


Certain as the Sun

by lilyhearted



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beauty and the Beast Fusion, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Beauty and the Beast AU, Hate to Love, I just had a little idea and now I've written a lot of words, M/M, Self Sacrificing Alec Lightwood, Slow Burn, ambiguous setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-09 06:32:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 45,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12270834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyhearted/pseuds/lilyhearted
Summary: Magnus Bane has gotten used to the curse that he's living under, which imprisons him in his own home.Alec Lightwood has gotten used to giving up what he desires to be who everyone wants him to be.What if breaking one curse could set both men free?That's if they can stop arguing long enough to get there.Malec Beauty and the Beast AU





	1. Prologue

Magnus could still remember that night vividly. 

The dimmed candlelight, the cloying scent of heavy perfume that hung in the heat of too many bodies in a single room, wide painted smiles and whispers behind fans. He even remembered what he’d been wearing that night, how he’d complained to anyone who would listen that his new silk brocade jacket hadn’t come in and he’d had to settle for the burgundy velvet. The compliments on his attire had only marginally mitigated his displeasure. The clinking of glasses, the rich taste of brandy on his tongue and the burn of it going down his throat. The coy smile of the gentleman next to him, Magnus had forgotten the man’s name but remembered the fetching curl to his hair, who whispered indecent things in his ear. All of it was preserved in his memory, like a diorama under glass. A perfect memory of a Magnus Bane party. 

Anyone who was anyone attended a _Magnus Bane_ party. Unless you were of the type that saw yourself as above the simple pleasures of the flesh, and even then, you probably still attended. The rich, the famous, the royalty, indulged to their heart’s content. They drank wine and gossiped, found someone to pull upstairs to one of the many rooms of the large manor, danced, gambled, made political allies, made political enemies, any sort of entertainment could be found at one of the extravagant parties. No one knew for sure how or why they had started, only that they needed to be there. 

Magnus Bane himself was something of an enigma. Everyone was sure he must have a title, with his large house and importance in society, yet no one could tell anyone for sure what it was. It was quite obvious that their host was a magic user, no one could miss the glowing blue sparks on his fingertips, but no one seemed to care. Even if some of them spoke about the dangers of magic outside of the parties, no one dared breath a word of protest inside. That was another thing, no one knew for sure just how old their host really was, his young face didn’t betray any of his years. Some of the party goers had been coming here for years, and while their faces grew lines, his did not. The only thing anyone seemed to know for sure about the over the top host, was that he loved pleasure in excess. Women, men, drink, game, fashion, Magnus Bane indulged in everything. He never had the same lover twice, but anyone who had the pleasure swore it had been the best night of their life. 

That night, Magnus had just turned to the man beside him, thumb lingering along an elegant cheekbone when there had been a knock on the door. The hush that had slowly swept through the room was like fog slowly rolling over the moors, until you heard every rustle of fabric or slosh of liquid in a cup. It was late enough in the evening that every guest had arrived, it was unheard of to come to a party so late. While Magnus was a fan of dramatic entrances, and had made quite a few of them himself, being hours late was tacky, and he’d been known to turn people away at the door. No one had ever said that he was a kind man, he was a charming man, and didn’t fall under the category of cruel, but he also never seemed terribly interested in anyone beyond his conquests. Every eye turned to him as another knock sounded on the heavy wooden doors. 

With a heavy, dramatic sigh, Magnus dropped his hand from the face of what might have been his latest paramour and straightened his waistcoat. Out of the corner of his eye he saw several ladies hide their smiles behind their fans, clearly anticipating something theatrical in nature. Magnus was never one to disappoint. Sweeping across the room with his coat tails fanning behind him, Magnus Bane paused in front of the large ornate doors for only a second before pulling them open. Anticipating a late party guest dressed to the nines, he was brought up short by the woman dressed in rags standing on his doorstep. 

She was frail looking, weathered hands gripping what was probably once a bag but now looked like nothing more than a lump of tattered cloth. It was a cold night, and her body looked like it might at any moment be blown away with a strong gust of wind. Skin sagged over bones, pale in the places where the chill hadn’t brushed it red. Her eyes were the only thing about her that didn’t seem feeble, they stared up at Magnus with determination. 

“Can I help you?” The words were tersely spoken, as the young man draped himself on the open door, a picture of decadence. He was irritated at being interrupted, and perhaps even a little irate at not being able to dramatically scold a late party guest. This woman was certainly not an intended guest, not dressed like she was. No one would show up to one of his parties dressed in rags, that was just insulting. 

“Sir, might I take shelter in your home for the night? I’ve been walking all day and my weary bones won’t make it much longer” Even her quivering voice spoke to her frailty. 

“I’m afraid tonight is a bad night, all the rooms in the house are occupied” Magnus wasn’t entirely sure if that was true, but surely most of them would be filled by his party guests by the time that the night was over. 

“Surely you have just one room for an old woman such as me? Anything will do, the servants quarters perhaps?” Her fingers curled around her bag as she spoke, clutching so that her knuckles turned white. 

“I’m sorry, there’s no room for you here. I’m in the middle of a large gathering and this isn’t a hotel” Magnus’ voice grew firmer, angling his body a bit more so that his guests wouldn’t be able to see the woman from inside. He threw a charming grin over his shoulder toward the crowd to reassure them, catching sight of the fetching young man from earlier and sending him a wink. The sooner this was over, the sooner he could get back to the party. 

“Nothing at all?” The woman’s eyes bore into him as she stared up at him, a breeze blew by that picked up her long ratty grey hair and blew it across her face. 

“For the last time, there’s no room for you here. You’ve interrupted my night and I don’t care for my guests to see you” Magnus let his gaze roll over her tattered garments to emphasize exactly why that would be a problem, “Begone, or I’ll have you escorted off the premises.” 

Taking a step back, Magnus’ ring covered fingers gripped the edge of the door with the intent to shut it on his unwelcome guest. That was, until another hand shot forward, halting the large door from closing completely. Harsh words were at the tip of his tongue, eyes narrowing in on the old woman’s hand where it was pressed to the door and preventing him from returning to his evening. Only, it was no longer an old woman’s hand. The fingers pressed to his door were slim and elegant, a young woman’s hand, with delicately inked vines that crawled from the tips of her fingers to her wrists. Magnus followed those vines up her arm to find a woman no longer dressed in rags. Indeed, the woman in front of him was beautiful and youthful. Long red hair spilled over her shoulders, and her figure was wrapped in an elegant green dress that seemed to shimmer even in the dull light spilling from inside the manor. The eyes were the only thing that felt familiar to the old woman Magnus had seen only moments ago, still burning brightly as they looked up at him. He should have recognized them. _The Seelie Queen_.

“Magnus Bane, the high warlock. You have shown your true nature this night. Long had I heard the whispers of your nature, your pleasures, your indecencies. You care for no one but yourself. Drifting through this life from one thing to the next. There is power in you, but what good is power if you only use it selfishly? Tonight shall be the beginning of your punishment” Her voice carried, authority ringing in every note. She was ethereal, standing tall and proud in the doorstep. 

“What do you mean?” Magnus asked, and flinched when his voice echoed. The space behind him was no longer filled with guests. Instead the darkened halls behind him loomed with their emptiness, closing in on Magnus where he still stood in the doorway. 

“This manor, in which you hosted parties to proclaim your greatness will now be your prison. It will be but a happy dream to those you once entertained, a place they remember in vague memories and won’t be able to find again. Your magic, which you used so frivolously, will be that of a child still learning” The Seelie Queen’s eyes bore into his as she made her proclamation. A shiver ran down his spine, and even though he was perhaps a foot taller than the queen he suddenly felt so small. He didn’t want to believe that she could do something like this. 

“I’m just to rot inside my own house? For not letting an old woman inside my home, that seems excessive” He pushed for irritation, not wanting to belay just how scared he really was. This was all he had for himself, his parties, his magic, the glamour of both, and here she was threatening to take away both of them. 

“There is a way out. Though I am not sure if it is even possible for you. To be free of this curse, you must love another romantically, and be loved in return. To care for another being enough that you are able to see beyond your own selfishness.” In that moment, the Seelie Queen was gone, vanished into thin air, as if she had never been there in the first place. Yet the dark echoes of the space behind Magnus spoke to her presence, of the impact she had in the short amount of time that she had been here. 

The door closed too loudly in the empty space. Magnus’ back pressed into the carved wood as he slid down to the floor. His ringed fingers clasped around his knees as he took short labored breaths. Looming loneliness closed in around him, as the wind howled outside. 

No, it was not a night that one forgot so easily.


	2. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to start off by saying that the chapters definitely aren't going to be coming this quickly. I'm trying to be good and only post a chapter when I've got the next one written. But I had quite a bit of this written before I posted the prologue, and wanted to toss in a true start to the story. At least the first two chapters will be from Alec's perspective.

“Alec!”

The shot that the dark-haired archer was about to take went wide as he flinched, sending his arrow into the bushes behind his target. Well that was going to be fun to find later. Sighing heavily, Alec lowered his bow, twisting his body so he could glare at the blond currently leaning on the porch railing that overlooked Alec’s makeshift range. 

“You couldn’t have waited until after I took my shot?” The glare he was sending at Jace was one he’d learned from his mother and usually enough to have anyone bending underneath it, but his adopted brother merely smiled smugly back at him. It made sense, they’d both grown up under Maryse’s watchful eye. 

“What would be the fun in that?” Jace called back, clearly enjoying himself way too much. But Alec could feel a fond smile pulling at his lips as he carefully folded his bow in leather and tucked it under his arm. If there was anyone who could make Alec Lightwood smile, it was his siblings. As headache inducing as they could be sometimes. “Izzy told me to remind you that Max’s appointment is in a half hour.”

“Shit, right, yeah. Tell them I’ll be up in a minute?” Alec watched Jace dip his chin in a nod before he loped back into the house. 

Once his bow was safely stored away, Alec made his way back into the house. He followed the sound of voices into the kitchen where Max was sitting at the table, his skinny legs kicking beneath him and his chin propped up on his hand as he read a book open on the table. Isabelle sat across from him, leaning back in her chair so that she could talk to Jace, who was leaning against the counter with a plate full of food. There was bright morning sunlight streaming in through the large windows, giving everything a rosy glow. 

Alec always cherished the mornings where it was just the four of them. Not that he didn’t care about his parents, he did, in a way. He probably cared about their opinion far more than could be considered healthy. Whenever the Lightwood parents were home there was always an added pressure on each of their children. Like their every moment was meant to be striving toward their future, and making them proud, rather than just taking a moment to enjoy themselves every once in a while. Maryse would already be scolding Max about his bare feet, or Isabelle for tipping the chair back. Robert would have interrupted their conversation to ask about Jace’s unit with the Idris Guards. 

Alec ruffled Max’s hair as he walked by, grinning at his protest.

“I’ve got class in an hour and Jace has patrol later this afternoon. I want to come with you but the professor will kill me if I miss another class” Isabelle’s chin was cushioned between her palms as she leaned forward on the table. 

“We’ll be fine, right buddy?” Alec glanced over in time to see Max nodding his head without looking up from his book, “It’s just a checkup.” He shoved a few snack items into his knapsack. Max rarely was able to go into town, so whenever they went for his doctor’s appointments they’d spend the afternoon there. 

“Be good for Alec, Max. And maybe I’ll make dinner to make up for not being there?” 

“No” Both Alec and Jace hardly looked up to shoot down their sister’s idea. 

“You’d be doing us all more of a favor if you didn’t Iz” Jace grinned, reaching up to finish buttoning up his guard’s uniform. Alec hated how his gaze lingered on the way the uniform pulled tight across Jace’s shoulders. His crush on Jace was something he’d gotten over years ago, but his brain couldn’t help but appreciate from time to time. 

“It’s not that bad” Izzy protested, lower lip sticking out in a pout. 

“I’ve gotten food poisoning eight times Iz, last time Jace almost had to go to the hospital” Alec finished packing up his bag and turned so he could crouch down by Max. “C’mon buddy, if you’re good for Doctor Fell we can stop by Hodge’s later, he told me yesterday that he has a book you might like.”

“Really?” Max finally looked up from his book, wide eyes peering up at Alec. His hands reached upwards and Alec lifted him up out of the chair, shifting him until Max was positioned on his back with his little arms wrapped around his neck and his legs hitched high on Alec’s waist. 

“Yeah, but we have to get to your appointment first” Alec grinned, hitching Max’s legs a little bit higher. “We’ll be back later, try not to get in too much trouble” he pointed at Jace, “And no cooking” he pointed at Isabelle. 

Alec only half listened to the complaints they sent his way in response, already heading toward the door. He asked about what Max was reading on the way out, knowing that would have Max talking all the way until they reached the clinic. It was a nice distraction, for Max and Alec both. They didn’t talk about Max’s illness much. Especially not when their parents were home, they most of all seemed to want to willfully ignore that their youngest son was sick with something that they might not be able to cure. But it was easy to forget sometimes, Max was so vibrant and seemingly full of life. He could talk for hours about the book he was reading, and always demanded that Alec play a game of chess with him before bed. It was only when he stood that his legs trembled, or that sometimes his body would be wracked with coughing. 

Sometimes Alec wondered if that was why their parents were away so often, furthering their political agenda in the capital. He wanted to hope that was the reason why. Because the only other alternative was that his parents didn’t care. To make up for the absence, Alec, Izzy, and Jace spent as much time with Max as they could even if they themselves were usually busy. Max didn’t seem to mind much, he sometimes asked after their parents, but one of them was always there to tuck him in at night, and make sure he was taking his medications. They took good care of their little brother.

Max’s fingers tightened in the loosened collar of Alec’s well-worn black sweater as they approached the clinic. Alec’s hands weren’t free, so he smoothed his thumb over Max’s knees as an assurance as they pushed past the door under the swinging sign. 

“Max! Here for your checkup?” Despite all the anxiety around each of these appointments, Dr. Catarina Loss was someone that just put people at ease. It wasn’t just that she was beautiful, though she was with gorgeous dark skin and her hair elegantly tied back, it was more that she was just warm. She had a smile for each of her patients, but was also straight to the point, which Alec probably appreciated more than Max. Dr. Loss had been Max’s physician since he was just a toddler and the siblings that brought him to appointments were teenagers. She’d been part of the reason that Izzy had decided to go into medicine. 

“Do you have more lollipops?” Max asked, peering over Alec’s shoulder. 

“Don’t I always have lollipops? You’ll get one after we’re done” Catarina sighed, shaking her head fondly. 

“There better be a strawberry one, I don’t like any of the other ones” Max grumbled, fingers loosening their grip on Alec’s sweater as his older brother bent to let him down off his back. 

“I think there might be a few in there, if you’re really good I might even let you take another one home for later” She winked at Max, reaching across to push the door open for the exam room. 

“Really?” Max’s eyes light up in delight as he makes his way toward the exam room, Alec winces at the way he teeters on his legs. His movement hasn’t been getting a lot better, even short distances like this are getting harder for Max. “Alec says we get to go to Hodge’s after.”

“Is that so? Well make sure you say hi for me. Now why don’t you go on in and sit down, kiddo, you can tell me all about your latest book while we get you checked out” Catarina smiles as Max’s sandy head ducked under her arm and into the room. “Are you coming in Alec?” 

Alec shook his head, indicating to one of the chairs in the waiting room, “I’m good out here. He’s been complaining that we baby him too much.” It was probably true, Alec in particular was very protective of his baby brother. But he trusted Catarina, and if it gave Max some semblance of independence, Alec could wait outside. Dr. Loss nodded and let the door to the exam room fall closed behind her.   
Slumping into the seat, Alec felt the cold uncomfortable plastic embrace his back. As nice as Catarina was, this waiting room was still just like any other doctor’s waiting room, with uncomfortable chairs and scattered plants. At least it had a decent number of windows to let some natural light into the room. Alec tilted his head back, closing his eyes. Rest had been elusive lately. What with everything going on, it was hard for him to just shut his brain down. Max being sick, Izzy and her classes and having a boyfriend that she snuck off to see, Jace and his just general recklessness, and his parents pressuring him to do well on his own exams. With everything else he had to do in a day, which his parents should really be doing, he’d been staying up late to study for his law exams. Alec knew it showed too, saw the concern in Izzy and Jace’s eyes when they took in his pale skin and the dark bruises underneath his eyes. He didn’t like to worry them, it was his job as the older brother to worry over his younger siblings, not the other way around. 

The sound of the door opening pulled Alec out of his light doze, straightening up so quickly that for a moment he just saw stars. Max was proudly holding out two suckers, one of which he tucked into the knapsack that was still slung around Alec’s body. He knew that Alec would need to talk to Dr. Loss, so he hopped up into the chair beside him, frail legs swinging back and forth. Alec stood and stretched, loping his way over to Catarina and just barely missing knocking his head on a low hanging macramé plant holder. 

“How is he?” Alec asked lowly, glancing back at Max, who was distracting himself with unwrapping his lollipop. 

“His mobility is getting worse, but I think you already knew that. He’s not getting better, Alec. I have a few more things we can try, but I’m not sure they’re going to help. We’ll try though, and we’ll keep trying. He’s a tough kid” Catarina smiled fondly as Max stuck the sucker into his mouth. 

“Is there…do you still not know what it is?” Izzy was always better at this than he was, she knew all the medical terms and the right questions to ask. 

“There’s nothing like it recorded anywhere as far as I can tell. But I’ve asked for a few more books from the Spiral Labyrinth, so maybe something will be in there. Drop by tomorrow for the new medication, it should be ready by then.” Catarina sighed, this was a conversation they’d been having since Max only came up to their thighs. Hope was what kept them having it over and over again, that maybe someday it would be different. 

“Thank you. I’ll come by before my class tomorrow” It would mean cutting his archery practice early, but it was for Max. 

“Great. Take care of yourself Alec” She placed a hand on Alec’s shoulder, patting it twice before leaning back on the front desk, “See you in two weeks Max” She called over to Max, who waved distractedly in her direction, mind clearly already on their next destination. 

It didn’t take much urging to get Max back up onto his back, his head propping on Alec’s shoulder. Though he didn’t say it, Alec knew he was already losing some of the exuberant energy that he’d had before they left. Even these short trips started to wear him out really quickly. He rubbed his hands over Max’s knees, knowing his joints would be aching from the bit of walking he’d done. The sudden helpless feeling wrapped around his heart, squeezing tight and leaving Alec short of breath. His little brother was in pain, was fading away, and there wasn’t anything that he could do. He did everything that he could, took him to doctor’s visits, gave him his medication, bought him all the books he could read, but nothing was helping. What was he supposed to do? Alec was the older brother, meant to protect his siblings from all the awful things that the world could throw at them, but Alec couldn’t do a damn thing about this.

“Alec? Are you okay?” Max’s soft voice questioned by his ear, startling Alec. He hitched his brother up a little higher and took a deep breath.

“I’m fine, buddy. You just worry about you alright? What kind of book do you think Hodge has for you?” Alec murmured, hoping his voice sounded steady. 

“I hope it’s something fantasy. I’ve been waiting for him to get the third book in the Fell Chronicles. You know, the one about the warlock? I told you about that one, right? It has a dragon too, he’s super awesome” Max rambled, propping his sharp little chin on Alec’s shoulder. 

“I think I remember that one, that’s the one with the faerie?” Alec nodded, taking the side street that would take them to Hodge’s little bookshop. It was a little out of the way, but all of them had been coming here since they were kids. Hodge was an old family friend, he’d been friends with Maryse and Robert back when he’d still been in the political game. They’d never asked what exactly caused him to get out of it, but Hodge had often taken care of them as kids when their parents had gone away. 

“Yes! The second one left off on a cliffhanger” Even if he couldn’t see it, Alec knew that Max was scowling. It had him laughing as he pushed open the door to the shop. 

The little chime above their heads was pleasant instead of shrill, and the scent of all the old books had some of the tension seeping out of Alec’s shoulders. Max wasn’t the only one who loved Hodge’s shop. All of the Lightwood children had spent plenty of time sprawled out on the multicolored rug laid over the squeaky wooden floor. Jace had gravitated toward books of adventure, Izzy had always been diametrically interested in either romance novels or the most complicated science books she could get her hands on, and Alec had always picked up history books or anything that told him what the world was like outside of Idris. Max, the bibliophile, didn’t really have a preference and read anything that he could get his hands on. 

Hodge came around the corner from the back room just as Alec was setting Max down on the counter, careful to avoid the piles of books stacked there. The older man’s glasses were already sliding down his nose and he grinned warmly at the sight of the two Lightwood brothers in his shop. 

“Well now, what do we have here? I see someone’s been to see Catarina” Hodge glanced down to where the stick of the lollipop was still hanging from Max’s lips. 

“She says hi” Max nodded his head with exaggerated movements, “Alec said you have a book for me” Straight to the point, definitely a boy on a mission. 

“Did he? I might have gotten something in that would interest you. I think they finally sent over the third book in that series that you like” Hodge winked as he shuffled through one of the stacks of books on the messy counter and finally produced the book in question. He laughed when Max tugged it out of his hands with wide eyes, running his fingers over the cover and wasting no time in getting it open.

“What do we say Max?” Alec prompted, rolling his eyes fondly. 

“Thanks Uncle Hodge” It was a distracted mumble, but it was also probably the best that Alec or Hodge was going to get out of Max for a while. Once he got a hold of a new book, it was hard to get Max to do anything else. It was going to be enough of a task getting him to put it down long enough for the two of them to get home. 

They spent another hour or so in Hodge’s shop, Max sprawled out on the rug while Alec and Hodge talked for a while. It was an easy afternoon, Alec didn’t have any classes for once, and any studying he’d been missing out on he could get done later that night. Eventually he did break out the snacks and force Max to eat something, practically shoving the food underneath his nose before he actually saw it. Alec missed the afternoons that he, Izzy and Jace had spent like this. It had been easier when they were kids, without as many obligations that kept their schedules from lining up. 

Eventually Alec pried Max away from his book, slipping the temptation into his bag and pulling the boy up onto his back again. It was easy to see that he was tired, with the way his head slumped onto Alec’s shoulder. He’d crash when they got home and one of them would have to wake him up for dinner. They waved a quick goodbye to Hodge, who was seeing to another customer, and made their way home. 

It was a quiet evening altogether. Alec got Max laid out in his bed for a nap just before Jace got home, complaining about another guard named Sebastian who he described as an ‘entitled asshole’. Which was a fitting description from what Alec could remember of the guy from school. Izzy had come home not long afterwards, babbling excitedly about something that they’d covered in her class. Even dinner was a relatively easy affair, Izzy had gone to wake up Max and came back with him on her hip. Dinner was always full of smiles and laughter when it was just the four of them.   
Jace headed to bed early grumbling about an early morning shift. Izzy had already used her wide eyes and long lashes to convince Alec that she should be able to take the horse to go see her boyfriend Meliorn, who lived in the next town over. So that left Alec to tuck Max into bed before heading to his own room to make up for all the studying he could have been doing this afternoon. 

It was hours later that Alec was rubbing at his eyes, trying to make the words stop blurring on the page. His shoulders were aching too, no matter how many times he’d rolled them to try and ease away some of the tension. That pain in particular was a combination of carrying his brother around all day and leaning over his desk for so long. Outside it was pitch black, only the light from the moon and the warm glow coming from his window gave any relief to the dark shapes outside. Alec should probably head to bed, but he also had an essay due in a couple weeks that he’d only just started on. Which was probably still farther along than most students in his class, but Alec felt more anxious the longer he left things. There was a constant worry that something would happen, that Max would take a turn for the worse, or Jace would do something stupidly brave while on the job, or god forbid something happen to Izzy. If his own life and work was the only thing he could control, Alec was damn well going to handle it to the best of his ability. 

The whinny of a horse had Alec abruptly sitting up straight, nearly knocking over his chair in the process. They only had the one horse when their parents were gone, and if Izzy was visiting Meliorn that meant either someone else was here in the middle of the night, or Izzy was back. Which wouldn’t be a good thing. Whenever she went to see Meliorn she was usually gone until the next morning, which was definitely something her big brother didn’t want to think about too closely. 

The chair made a horrendous screeching sound as Alec pushed it back, making him wince and hope that he hadn’t woken up Jace or Max. If it was some kind of late night visitor, he’d much rather deal with it on his own than involve either of his brothers. As quietly as he could, he crept down the stairs and out the front door. The light that still glowed from the window danced across the horses’ brown coat, and illuminated a very familiar figure climbing down from the saddle. 

“Izzy? What’s going on?” Alec called out softly, the gravel crunching underneath his bare feet as he made his way toward his sister. When she turned, the light caught the tears that were leaving tracks on her cheeks. Alec thought he heard her breath hitch when she saw him. That set all of his big brother instincts on high alert. Something upset his little sister and he needed to find out what.

“Alec” Izzy took a few steps forward until she could bury her face in Alec’s chest and his arms went automatically up to hold onto her. 

“Woah, hey. What happened? Was it Meliorn, did you two break up or something?” He would hitch the horse up and head over there himself if Meliorn had hurt his little sister in any way. If he was lucky he might even make it back before Jace realized that Alec had gone without him. But Izzy was shaking her head into the worn material of his sweater. 

“I got lost…and I didn’t mean to, and I swear if I would have known I wouldn’t have but I just wasn’t thinking…” There was hardly room for a breath in all the jumbled words that were leaving Izzy’s lips, half of which were almost inaudible due to the fact that she was crying and speaking into Alec’s chest. 

“Hold on, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Start from the beginning” Alec smoothed his hands over his sister’s shoulders, pushing her back gently so that he could see her face. With careful fingers, he ducked down so that he could brush away some of the tears that were still flowing over her cheeks. 

“I was on my way to Meliorn’s and I got lost. There’s that part of the woods between here and there that can get a little tricky in the dark” Her breathing was still hitching every now and then as she cried, and Alec stroked her hair, trying to get her to calm down, “I wandered around for hours trying to find the path again. I finally thought I found it until I saw this huge house. I didn’t even know this place existed Alec, it’s not on any map I’ve seen of Idris. I went up to it, because I figured someone there would probably be able to give me directions, right? I was cold and tired and I just needed to figure out how to get to Meliorn or back here.” Alec nodded, it probably would have been what he would have done. 

“Was there anyone there?” Alec prompted softly, pulling them toward the steps at the front of the house. Sinking down, he pulled Isabelle into his arms, running a hand along her back. 

“Yeah, this adorably awkward guy opened the door. Said that his employer saw me coming and offered to let me warm up inside. Which I thought was kind of strange, but I’d been riding for more than an hour and the guy was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t eat anything just in case, but there was a huge fire and comfy chairs. Everything was just nice and Simon was really great to talk to. He gave me directions on how to get back here” Isabelle was still rambling, but at least her words were getting a little bit clearer. 

“That doesn’t sound so bad” Alec hedged, voice soft. So far it didn’t sound like anything to get this upset over, unless Isabelle was afraid that Meliorn would break up with her for not showing up.

“I was going to leave, I had gotten back on the horse and everything. But then I saw them Alec. There was a whole garden full of magical plants. Do you know how rare those are? Only a warlock can grow them and there’s so few of them. There’s this one, I didn’t even remember its name but I saw its picture in one of my textbooks, but I knew it would help Max. It’s meant to help with pain. I was only going to take one. But then he was there, the warlock. He had eyes like a cat’s” Isabelle was crying harder again and Alec clutched her close, wishing he could just ease away whatever was upsetting her but he needed the rest of the story to do that. 

“What did he do Izzy?” He wasn’t angry, he wasn’t about to call his sister foolish. Not when he would have done the same thing. Max was their brother, their little brother. Alec had practically raised Max, if there was a chance to help him, Alec would have taken in a heartbeat. But that didn’t mean he liked that his sister had gotten herself into trouble.

“He said that I’d stolen from him. That he’d given me a place to rest and I repaid him by taking the plant. I tried to tell him about Max, tried to offer him money for the plant but he told me it was already too late for that. He said…he said that since I had stolen the plant for my brother, that my brother would have to go there in order to repay the debt. He gave me this.” Isabelle reached down to touch a ruby stone that hung by her throat. It was beautiful in a way, but Alec couldn’t see it as anything but sinister right now. “The warlock said that I needed to give this to my brother within the next twenty-four hours, and that the stone would lead back to the manor. If I didn’t then the necklace would become more and more painful for me to wear. But I can’t let him take Max, I can’t. Alec we have to do something” She clutched at Alec’s sweater, sobbing again. 

“Iz, were those his exact words? That your brother had to go to the manor as repayment?” He asked, trying to keep his voice low and gentle. 

“Yes. He said the necklace would only come off if my brother took it.” Izzy buried her face in Alec’s shoulder. 

“Then I’ll go” Alec reached up and lifted the pendant, eyes widening when the silver chain suddenly slid apart and away from Isabelle’s neck. There was a faint pain and numbness in his fingertips up until he lifted the chain to link behind his neck, sealing together and letting the jewel fall between his collarbones. As Alec had guessed, the warlock wouldn’t be able to specify which brother it was without having met either of them. More likely it was based on a certain amount of shared genetics.

“No, Alec, you can’t” Isabelle’s voice was higher pitched as she scrambled to tug at the necklace that was already firmly clasped around her brother’s neck. 

“I’ll be fine Izzy, just take care of Max. He’s going to need you” He soothed, prying her hands away from the ruby, “This is something that only I can do, for you and Max.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've made the setting and time frame pretty ambiguous and I'm sorry if that bothers any of you. It was mainly because I didn't want to spend hours doing historical research in order to pin everything down. But I also didn't want to make it too modern so that a lot of the more fantastical elements didn't make sense. So you have a bit of both.


	3. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here's the next chapter for you all! I hope you like it.  
> Overall I'm looking at about 7 chapters in total? Including the prologue. 
> 
> I just want to forewarn that Magnus probably comes across as a jerk in this chapter, like massively. But this chapter is also from Alec's POV and he's determined to see Magnus as the bad guy. The next chapter is from Magnus' point of view and should explain more of his reasoning and definitely give you a better idea of his character.

The next morning at the Lightwood house was equal parts noise and silence. Alec had finally convinced Izzy to go to bed after another hour of arguing. He hadn’t gotten any sleep himself, his brain too busy going over the rather reckless decision that he’d made. Reckless decisions weren’t what Alec was known for. He was the thinker, the calculated one, who managed to get his siblings out of any sort of trouble and always did what his parents asked him to. Alec Lightwood was not someone who went into things blindly. But if it meant saving his siblings, he would. He’d walk through hell and back if it meant that Izzy, Jace and Max were alright. In comparison to that, venturing off to face an unknown warlock was nothing. Alright, maybe not nothing, but he was doing his best to keep himself sane. So instead of sleeping, he packed up the few possessions that he wanted to take with him. 

Telling Jace was probably the hardest part. By morning Izzy had at least resigned herself that this was a decision that Alec was going to make whether or not she agreed with it, but Jace had always been the most hot-headed Lightwood sibling. Alec and Izzy were already sitting at the kitchen table when Jace came down, yawning and looking startled when he realized both of them were already up. Izzy explained, because Alec wasn’t sure he had the words to. It was a much quicker, and easier to understand story than last night, even if Izzy still seemed like she was on the verge of tears. Alec ran a hand along her back, through her hair gently. He wouldn’t want to admit it, but it was mostly so he didn’t have to look at Jace, who he could feel getting angrier by the minute. Especially when Izzy explained what Alec had done, her eyes drawn to the necklace that was still hanging around his neck. 

“What the hell were you thinking, Alec?” Jace hissed, his fingers clenched around the edge of the table. His multicolored eyes flashed with the anger he was trying to restrain. “You can’t do this.” 

“I’m not going to let anyone hurt my family” Alec said firmly, keeping his voice low playing the calm to Jace’s rage. They always worked best like that, though it usually wasn’t something Alec used against Jace. Alec was the ice to Jace’s fire. After the flames had razed everything to the ground, the cold would settle into the ashes, making sure nothing else could grow. The ice also tempered the flames, corralling them into something more dangerous. 

“You could have waited, we could have figured something out this morning! You should have waited until we were all here! This wasn’t your decision to make alone” Jace’s knuckles were growing white he was gripping the table so hard. 

“There were no other options Jace. It’s dangerous to mess with magic. I couldn’t let it hurt Izzy and Max can’t leave” Alec pointed out, trying to keep his face a mask. 

“You don’t know that! We could have figured something else. Catarina has some magic, she knows people at the Spiral Tower” Jace was still arguing but there was a defeated set to his shoulders. 

“It’s too late. I’m going Jace. You’re not going to talk me out of it” Alec pushed his chair back, standing. He slid a hand along the tense lines of Jace’s shoulders, and wasn’t surprised when Jace turned and wrapped his arms around him. He hugged his brother tight and the blond buried his face against Alec’s neck. His breath hitched and Alec could feel the wetness of tears against his neck. Jace had always used anger to hide what he was feeling. The last time they’d sparred for a good hour before Jace had broken down and told him that his girlfriend had dumped him. 

“Please don’t leave Alec” Jace murmured into his neck, clutching Alec’s back. He sounded so lost, Alec hadn’t ever heard him sound that distraught. If this had been a few years ago, Alec might have given in. He’d never been able to deny Jace anything, no foolhardy plan, or any plea. The teenage version of himself had been so convinced that he was in love with his adopted brother. But now he was older, duty came first. There was nothing that would keep Alec from protecting those he cared about. 

“I have to. Take care of them for me Jace” He blinked away the sudden stinging in his eyes. Putting his hands on Jace’s shoulders, he very gently pushed his brother back. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Max making his way out of his room, sleepily rubbing at his eyes. 

“What’s going on? Why is everyone up so early?” Max mumbled. Alec crouched down so that he was level with Max. 

“Everything’s fine. I just have to go away on a trip unexpectedly” He didn’t want to lie, but he knew Max wouldn’t get why he was leaving. Worse, he might blame himself or be angry that Alec was taking his place. 

“Like mom and dad? Where are you going?” Max mumbled, holding his arms out and letting Alec pick him up, wrapping his arms around his brother’s neck. 

“Sort of. I’m going to meet an important person in the countryside. But Jace and Izzy are going to stay at home with you. Izzy is going to go and pick up your new medicine later” He murmured to his brother, reaching up to smooth down the hair that was wildly sticking up after being pressed into a pillow. 

“I’m going to miss you Alec. Come home soon, okay?” Max curled into Alec’s shoulder. 

“I’m going to miss you too buddy” Alec’s words came out choked, having a hard time getting past the lump in his throat. He felt Izzy come up to his side, wrapping her arms around both him and Max, and then Jace was on his other side. Alec swore he wasn’t going to cry, but he felt a few traitorous tears slip down his cheeks. He had no idea what he was heading into, this could be the last time he was going to see his family. Who was going to keep Jace from doing idiotic things but praise him for doing the right thing? Who was going to tell Izzy she was brilliant and scold her for breaking the rules for the millionth time? Who was going to carry Max everywhere, and listen to all his stories? He didn’t even know where his parents were to tell them that he was leaving. Alec’s chest hurt. 

The last goodbyes were outside, as Alec hitched himself into the saddle. His siblings stood as a unit, Max leaning back into Izzy’s legs, who had one arm around him and one around Jace who stood beside her. He tried to muster up a smile for the three of them, but he didn’t think it ended up being very reassuring. The horse moved forward at the urging of his heels, and he turned in the saddle to watch his siblings wave, their figures growing smaller and smaller the further they went along the path. When he could no longer pick them out, Alec turned back around in the saddle, his fingers reaching up to clutch the ruby necklace around his neck. It glowed faintly from between his fingertips. 

Wilderness surrounded him, closing in at every angle. Even the early morning dappled sunlight could hardly make it past the tangled branches of the trees. It was closing in on the winter months, so it made sense that there weren’t leaves on the trees, but that only made them look all the more sinister. Alec couldn’t even make out what was at the end of the path they were taking, but the gem between his fingers grew brighter and felt faintly warm to the touch, so he surmised that they were going in the right direction. He thought he could faintly hear the howling of wolves in the distance. Time seemed to bend, he couldn’t be sure how long he’d been riding, the sun had almost completely disappeared behind clouds overhead and the menacing branches. A fog rolled in from nowhere, curling around the horse’s hooves before slithering higher, wrapping around Alec’s thighs. 

Just as suddenly as it had rolled in, and right as Alec was thinking that they might never get out of there, it was suddenly clear and they were riding out of the woods. Shoulders sagging with relief, Alec glanced back to the forest he’d just escaped from, the fog still weaving in and out of the trees. Then he was breathing in a shocked breath when he finally turned his gaze forward. His first impression was that the manor was huge, it easily tripled, quadrupled the size of the Lightwood house. His parents were fairly wealthy, they’d fallen in the ranks more recently, but they still could afford one of the largest homes in Idris. It was beautiful, the home, even if it was in slight disrepair. Tall elegant roofs, and ivy that climbed up the walls. The grounds around it were well tended. Taking the reins in his hand, Alec steered his horse toward the large carved double doors. 

Knocking seemed silly after his presence had been demanded, but Alec did it anyway. He’d been expecting the warlock himself, or maybe the awkward guy Izzy described to open the door, instead he was surprised when a petite redhead pulled open the heavy looking doors. She smiled up at Alec in a way that made him want to dislike her and be grateful to her all at once. It was also hard to get over the fact that she was just so…small. Alright, maybe he was a little taller than average people, but that still didn’t change the fact that she probably only came up to his chest.  
“Hi! We’ve been waiting for you. Simon will go out and get your horse in a minute” She greeted far too cheerfully, Alec was starting to lean more toward the dislike side of things. But he stepped up into the doorway anyway. Warmth immediately surrounded him, he hadn’t realized how cold he’d been out riding. 

The inside of the house was just as extravagant as the outside, maybe more so, since things seemed in better repair. Alec couldn’t describe the exact style the house was decorated in, and not just because he had very little experience or interest in decoration. There seemed to be a little bit of everything in the house, from every era, from a wrought coat of arms hung up on the wall to some kind of musical instrument with strings, to a tapestry with characters he didn’t recognize, the sitting chair in the hall looked antique and possibly French. The fabric of the rugs and the drapes were all in different, bright colors. Yet, in a very strange, eclectic manner, all of it worked. There was a sense of unity to it that Alec wouldn’t be able to put into words. 

“Come on, this way. Magnus is in the main sitting room. I’m Clary, I’m kind of the housekeeper?” Her voice lifted with the question and she sort of tilted her head as if she’d been asking herself that question. 

Alec still hadn’t said anything, but that didn’t seem to dissuade Clary, who led him down the hallway and through an empty doorway. He clutched at his bag, full of the only remnants of home he had left. 

“Who are you?” He heard the man’s voice before he saw him, deep and alluring. The words could have come across demanding, but they didn’t seem to be directed at Alec at all. There was a lilted quality to them, musical almost. 

The unbidden, unwanted, first thought that came to Alec’s head was _gorgeous_. Because the man was undeniably that. Smooth caramel skin, long elegant limbs sprawled out on a low couch, dark hair that was spiked with a stripe of red. He was wearing a silk shirt that was open most of the way, leaving the several necklaces that he wore to drape freely across his chest. Long fingers were decorated liberally with rings and wrapped around the stem of a wine glass. A silver cuff glinted along the delicate shell of his ear. Even his eyes, which Izzy had spoken of with such fear, were equally beautiful and unsettling, golden with hints of green around the edges and the pupil slit like a cat’s. They were made all the more mesmerizing by the dark eye makeup. After a few moments of staring, Alec realized that maybe that first question had partially been directed at him after all. He could feel the heat in his cheeks as he cleared his throat. 

“Alec Lightwood” He schooled his face into a scowl, already scolding himself internally. Those kinds of thoughts were ones that Alec shoved to the bottom of his subconscious. Especially now, when he was facing the man that had taken him away from his family. It was easy to bring that anger to the surface, and it was almost a relief. 

“Magnus Bane, High Warlock. Is Alec short for something? Alexander maybe?” Magnus’ voice was a coy drawl, and he made no attempts to disguise the way his eyes lingered up and down Alec’s body. It made a shiver run down Alec’s spine. 

“Don’t call me that” Alec snapped, fingers curling tightly into his palm. Only his parents called him that, and it was usually when they were expecting something for him. He hadn’t walked any further into the room, standing rigidly a few feet from the initial entrance. Clary hovered somewhere beyond that, her shifting footsteps making little creaking noises on the worn floorboards. 

Magnus was off the couch before Alec could blink, long strides taking him across the room and a mere foot away from Alec. He realized with a small sense of satisfaction that he was at least a few inches taller than the warlock. “My, my, you certainly don’t look like someone who is ill. Did your dear sister lie about that as well as stealing from me?” 

“She didn’t lie. Our brother Max is sick” He said firmly, his jaw clenching tight.

“Then why isn’t darling Max the one here? I believed I specified that he was the one that would be brought her in exchange” Magnus tilted his chin upwards to look at Alec directly.

“Max is a child! Did you even think about that? He’s a sick child and my little brother” Alec hissed through his teeth, his hands moving behind his back, one hand tightly wrapped around the wrist of the other. The temptation was too strong to just reach out and grab Magnus.

“Your sister stole from me-” 

“To try and help Max!”

“She could have asked!” 

“It was one goddamn plant!” Their voices had been steadily rising the whole conversation. Alec usually wasn’t one to yell, but he wanted to scream at this man. 

“To you! But I allowed your sister into my home and she took something important from me” Those almond shaped cat eyes were narrowed on Alec. Perhaps he should have been afraid, the man was a warlock after all, but anger was the only thing bubbling to the surface. 

“So, for one stupid decision you would imprison a child?” 

“She stole from me! Many years ago, that would have meant the loss of a hand, I think I was being rather generous” 

“Max is ten years old! He needs his family” Alec hadn’t even realized how close they had moved together. What had once been a foot or so was now scant inches between them. 

“Fine. If you’re so determined to sacrifice yourself, Alexander, I’ll let you” The words were much quieter than the previous shouting had been, colder. He flicked his wrist toward the doorway and Clary cautiously made her way in, “Show our guest to his rooms, will you? He’s going to be here for a while.” 

Alec wanted to say something else, but Magnus merely flicked his wrist toward the door in a clear dismissal. Those long fingers wrapped around the wine glass again and took a very generous sip of the red liquid inside it. Feeling a tug at his sleeve, Alec glanced down to Clary, who was tilting her head in the direction of the door. With one last glance at Magnus, Alec took a deep breath to try and quell his anger and followed the red-haired girl out of the room. She looked like she wanted to say something, she opened and closed her lips several times before she gave up. Turning on her heel, she led the way down the hallway to a large staircase, along a few more hallways before stopping in front of another door. 

The room wasn’t what Alec had been expecting. Frankly, he’d been expecting some sort of prison cell. What he got was the opposite and it baffled him. The sheer number of sparkling things, from the painted gold bed to the crystal chandelier, was just excessive. The bed was a four-poster bed with a rich red bedspread that looked softer than anything Alec had ever owned. There were two chests of drawers, a wardrobe and a trunk at the end of his bed. Who even had that many clothes? His bag of belongings would probably fit into a single drawer. The walls were at least a neutral cream color, that was one steadying point. 

Dropping his bag on the foot of the bed, Alec wandered over to the large window. The grounds outside were in the middle of the fall oranges and reds. There was so much space, even a small pond. At home, Alec had barely enough room to set up his makeshift archery range. There was a stable located at the back of the house, and Alec guessed that was where his horse was. Idly he wondered how viable it would be to make a rope out of his bedsheets. He was at least two floors up. Plus, still hanging around his neck was a reminder that even if he did manage to leave, part of him was still bound to being here. 

A knock at the door startled him from his thoughts.

“Alec? Magnus wants you to join him for dinner. Do you have any requests? Maia can make almost anything” It was Clary, and as much as Alec wanted to dislike her, it was pretty obvious that she was trying to make him feel comfortable with that offer. 

“I’m not joining him for dinner. Just tell him I’m not hungry” Alec called back, rolling his eyes as he wandered back into the room. 

“Alec-”

“I’m not hungry” He said more firmly, flopping down on the over cushioned bed. There was silence on the other side of the door before he finally heard Clary’s footsteps retreating. 

It took pushing about half the pillows onto the floor, but Alec finally got comfortable on the plush bed. Then he could feel the exhaustion seeping into his bones. It was only halfway through the day, but a lot had happened. The emotional toll of saying goodbye to his family, the physical toll of riding through the woods for what had felt like hours, and then spending his first few minutes of being here getting into a shouting match with Magnus Bane. Curling around a pillow, Alec tried not to think of all the things he’d lost in a matter of hours. Even if he knew he’d done it for the right reasons, it still hurt knowing that his life wasn’t ever going to be what he thought it would. Thankfully, sleep took hold of him before he could dwell on that for too long. 

Incessant knocking was what woke him. Alec was about to yell at Jace when he remembered that he wasn’t at home. He doubted that the loud, repetitive knocks were Clary, so he felt a little less bad about snapping out a very terse, “What?”

“I believe I requested you join me for dinner Alexander” Came the short, irritated reply from the voice he recognized from all the yelling earlier. 

“I’m not hungry. And it’s Alec.” Alec repeated what he’d said earlier, rolling over in the abundance of cushions and rolling his eyes. 

“You haven’t eaten all day, you’re probably famished. Join me for dinner” It sounded a little less like a request this time, and didn’t really make Alec want to roll his eyes any less. 

“I’m not eating dinner with you Magnus” He called back, eyes resolutely on the window letting in the last of the afternoon light. 

“Why is that exactly?” 

“Because I don’t want to” Alec snapped, fingers curling into the bead spread. 

“Then starve!” The words were short and clipped, Alec could practically see the restrained fury at being denied. 

For a few moments there was only quiet, Magnus waiting for Alec to talk, and Alec waiting to hear the footsteps away from his room. 

“You can’t hide from me forever Alexander” Magnus said finally, softer, but no less determined. 

“Watch me” Alec mumbled into his pillows, finally hearing the other man walk away from his room. 

For a while he just laid there, half expecting Magnus to come back at any minute and force him to come down to dinner with him. The light in the window had finally diminished to velvet blue when another knock sounded on his door. This one was quiet, almost hesitant. 

“It’s Clary, can you open the door?” Came softly through, along with the sounds of shuffling feet and what might be glassware clinking together. 

Alec contemplated just staying in bed and not answering her for a few moments before he reluctantly rolled out of the cushioned monstrosity. His hair was probably sticking up at all angles, but he really couldn’t bring himself to care. It had been a rough day, and at the moment he didn’t care about what anyone here had to say about his appearance. He flipped on the lights before opening the door, having to stop and blink for a moment before his eyes were adjusted to the sudden influx of light. Grabbing hold of the doorknob, he pulled it open slowly, wary that Magnus might have been using Clary as a ruse.

Instead, he found Clary on the other side of the door, her arms laden down with what looked like a bed tray filled with food. Behind her stood a tall, gangly man with glasses, who also had his arms full with a pitcher of water and cups. Both of them smiled up at him and Alec was starting to think that it was a little creepy. 

“What’s all this?” Alec asked, stepping backwards a little when Clary pushed her way into the room. Setting the tray down on one of the dressers, she made quick work of the rest of the bedcovers by tossing them on the floor. The young man who had come with her almost sheepishly made his way into the room behind her and past Alec. 

“Dinner” There was a definitive note in Clary’s voice as she picked the tray back up and placed it on the bed, plopping down on the foot of the bed and patting the space next to her for Simon.  
“Make yourself at home why don’t you?” Alec grumbled under his breath, rolling his eyes. But he made his way back to the bed, swinging the door closed behind him, and sat back down on the other side of the tray, careful not to tip it. “Isn’t Magnus going to be mad about this? Or was it his idea?”

“It was my idea and I don’t care if he’s mad. Magnus is being a jerk” Her lips turned down in a scowl as she crossed her legs beneath her and smoothed her skirt out over her thighs. “This is Simon, you guys didn’t get to meet earlier. He does a lot of odd jobs around here. He’s also my best friend” 

“You say that like he’s not always a jerk” Alec shook his head, reaching for one of the pieces of bread on the tray and breaking off a piece. 

“He isn’t all the time” Simon spoke up, leaning over to carefully place the cups along the edge of the tray. 

“Sure” 

“No really, he can be a really great guy. I wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t” Clary argued, reaching up to tuck a strand of red hair behind her ear. 

“I’ll have to see it to believe it” Alec muttered after swallowing, grabbing one of the cups that Simon had set out and poured. 

“Magnus is…complicated” She sighed, looking to Simon, who dipped his chin in a nod. 

“The kind of complicated that locks up little kids because their sister stole a plant?” Alec scoffed, leaning back against the pillows. 

Simon squirmed a little, and raised a hand to rub at the back of his neck, “That may have been a little bit my bad. I asked Magnus if I could let her in, she just seemed so cold and tired and man I didn’t want to leave her out there. I had no idea that would happen.” 

“So why do you work for him?” It seemed like there weren’t any redeeming qualities to being around that guy. Granted, he’d only been around him for a few minutes at most, but Alec definitely hadn’t seen anything that he would find appealing. Well, other than physical outward appearance, but that he was steadfastly locking in the back of his mind. 

“It’s a long story, going all the way back to my grandmother. Wait, no, actually it probably goes all the way back to the curse. We should tell him about the curse, right?” Clary asked, looking at Simon.  
“What curse?” Alec’s dark brows furrowed and his back straightened, coming out of the slouch that he’d had against the pillows. 

“Okay, so a long time ago, we don’t even know how long, Magnus had all these crazy parties. He was really popular and all of these really important people came here. But one night, this old woman shows up at the door and asks for a room. Magnus told her no, which admittedly is kind of a jerk thing to do. But it turns out that the old lady was actually just the Seelie Queen in disguise. She said a lot of stuff about Magnus never truly caring about anyone, and cursed him to be trapped in this house and limited his magic. Magnus gets really sick and is in a lot of pain if he gets past the fence surrounding the grounds. You saw the fog outside right? That makes it so it’s hard to find this place” Simon explained, gesturing with a piece of bread that he picked up.

“Then how did you two get here?” Alec questioned, food forgotten in favor of listening. 

“That’s where my grandmother come in. See, this place is only really impossible to find if you’re looking for it. Sometimes people stumble on it when they get lost, like your sister. My grandmother Adele got lost in the woods when she was a young woman. She’d just run away from home and a marriage that she didn’t want. Magnus let her come into the manor and after they talked for a while he offered her a job as his housekeeper. When she retired, my mom took over, and now that my mom moved to town with Luke, I took over” Clary explained. 

“Clary and I have been best friends since we were kids, so when she decided to take over, I came with her” Simon nodded, then reached down to pull a necklace with a silver charm out from his shirt, “We, Clary, Maia, Raphael and I, all have these cool necklaces that lead us back here whenever we go into town. Kind of like the ruby you have” 

“It takes a lot of Magnus’ magic to make them” Clary added, a hand reaching up to rest over her breastbone where her own necklace must be. 

“So, you could leave, if you wanted to?” Alec asked, trying to resist reaching up to touch the stone that hung between his collarbones. 

“We could, Magnus isn’t keeping us here. But he’s not all bad. He lets me use any of the rooms I want to paint in. We get paid well, and he’s not bad company if you get to know him” Clary sighed.

“How long has he been under the curse?” Alec asked, because if Clary’s grandmother first started working here as a young girl, that meant the curse had been going on for longer than that. 

“I…we don’t know” Clary spoke and both she and Simon shook their heads, “He always brushes it off when we ask him. He hasn’t said if there’s a way to break it either, if there is he obviously hasn’t done it.”

They went quiet for about a minute, Simon and Clary clearly waiting for him to say something and Alec reaching for food as an excuse not to. Finally, he sighed. 

“Are you two just going to stare at me all night?” Alec grumbled, taking a sip from the water glass. 

“Are you going to at least try and get to know Magnus?” Clary asked, staring up at him with big eyes that remind him all too much of Max when he was trying to get his way. 

“Fine, but I’m making no promises if he’s an asshole to me first” He frowned at the delighted look on Clary’s face. 

“Alright, well, Clary and I will leave you alone to eat now. We probably should get out of here before Magnus figures out where we are” Simon rambled, getting off the bed and ushering Clary toward the door. 

“Have a good night Alec!” Clary called back as the door shut behind her, leaving Alec alone with the still heaping plate of food.


	4. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, here is chapter three! It's from Magnus' POV as promised and should explain a few more things and give you a better idea of what's going on.  
> I hope you like it!  
> Just a heads up, the chapter after this one has somehow turned into a monster and is about 2k longer than the others so far. I thought about splitting it, but there wasn't really a way to do it that made sense. It also means my estimate of 30k words on this was a little short, since I still have ~3 chapters to write.

Dark red wine swirled around the glass with just the flick of his wrist, it left dark red stains where the wine touched. It was probably the wrong side of the day to be drinking. But somewhere it was the right side of the day and that was good enough for him at the moment. Then again, his rules around drinking had been very lax of late. He probably should take more care or Raphael was going to hide the stores again, claiming that they couldn’t afford his ridiculous wine budget. But right now, Raphael was off trying to keep their abode afloat and Magnus was trying to forget about his new guest. 

That had made for an exciting afternoon. At the very least he made for very good eye candy, tall and broad, dark messy hair that just begged for someone to run their hands through it, gorgeous hazel eyes that had spent the entirety of their short encounter staring daggers at him. It was downright shameful that he’d still found the glaring attractive. But he didn’t have a lot of that left after so many years. The whole thing had still left a bad taste in his mouth. 

If he were being honest, he might admit that their argument had left him feeling guilty. He hadn’t realized when he’d made the threat that the brother wasn’t even a teen yet. Magnus didn’t entirely regret what he’d done, the girl had still stolen from him. He’d let her into his home and she’d taken something. The last person who’d done that was-Nope, he was certainly not going there right now, he was far too sober to let his mind drift there. Magnus took another hearty swig of his wine. 

“Magnus” Magnus looked up from his glass to find Clary standing in the doorway, her hands on her hips. It was rather adorable really, he could remember her doing the exact same thing whenever she was cross about something as a child. 

“Do come in, Biscuit. Would you like a glass of wine?” Magnus leaned back on the couch, gesturing to the seat beside him with the glass. 

“It’s too early to be drinking Magnus, Raphael isn’t going to be happy if he finds out. He’ll tell Maia to lock up the wine again” Clary warns, making her way across the room to sit on the chaise beside him, one leg tucked up onto the cushion. 

“It’s almost endearing that he thinks locks will keep me out, and I can always throw darling Sherwin at him as a distraction” Magnus winked, his fingers faintly sparking blue where they were wrapped around the stem. 

“You know one of these days you’re going to have to actually call Simon by his real name” She tilted her head against the wall.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Biscuit, I always call Samson by his real name” Magnus grinned at her, reaching up with his free hand to fiddle with his ear cuff. 

Clary rolled her eyes fondly, but her face turned something a little more serious as she watched Magnus quietly for a few moments. It was a little unnerving really, Clary didn’t get serious often.

“Did you really go up there and demand that he come have dinner with you?” Clary asked, the corners of her mouth downturned. 

“Ah well, I’ll admit that it wasn’t my finest moment. I may have had a glass too many” Magnus grimaced, bringing his wine back up to his lips for another sip. “But he was the one acting like a stubborn child and locking himself in his room” 

“Simon and I brought food up to him later, talked to him a little bit” She said it offhandedly, looking down as she played with the ends of her hair. 

“I told you to leave him alone, Biscuit. If he wants to act like a stubborn ass, then leave him be” He narrowed his eyes at the girl, slouching back further into the arm of the chaise. 

Clary looked up then, a frown on her lips, “Magnus, Alec left his entire family behind to come here. One of which is a sick brother which he clearly cares a lot about. He was hurting, and arguing with you, the person who brought him here, probably didn’t help. You were a jerk to him. I’m a little bit mad at you for that.” She huffed. 

Tilting his glass back, Magnus drained the rest of the wine. It was a less than well thought out diversionary tactic, because it could really only last for so long, and Magnus was unfortunately good with very quickly downing alcohol. “Perhaps I was…a tad hasty” He finally said, begrudgingly. 

Reaching over, Clary placed a hand on Magnus’ arm, “I’m glad that you can admit that, because Simon and I may have convinced him to give you a second chance. But that’s only if you can actually manage to not start another argument with him.”

“I don’t see why I’m the only one that needs a second chance” Magnus grumbled, reaching out to set his glass on the side table and lifting his hand to cover Clary’s. 

“Fine, you need to give him a second chance too. But remember that he’s hurting, please, and try to be a little nicer at dinner?” She pleaded, looking up at Magnus. 

“I’ll try, but only for you Biscuit” Magnus sighed, rolling up from his slouched position to lean over and press a kiss to her forehead. 

Grinning, Clary slipped down from the couch and leaned over to pick up the half empty wine bottle on the table and Magnus’ glass. “No more wine until dinner either.” 

Magnus reached out as if to stop her, but sighed and sprawled out on the lounge instead, long legs taking up the space that Clary had just vacated. Maybe stopping with the wine now wasn’t a terrible idea, he was going to need a clear head if he was going to be seeing Alec again. 

The rest of the day went by fairly slowly. Magnus kept expecting to at least see glances of his new guest, but either Alec was still locked up in his room or was making sure to stay as far away from Magnus as possible. At least he had Clary’s reassurance that Alec would actually be coming to dinner. Apparently _she’d_ seen him today. Magnus tried to make the rest of his day productive. 

Over the years, Magnus had spent a lot of time testing the new limits of his magic. Before the curse, he’d taken a lot of what he could do for granted. He had all the books of spells for more complicated magic, but most of the time he didn’t even have to think about using it. A few simple gestures and he would have the world at his fingertips. But now, he had to think about every single use of magic, even the smallest thing could leave him depleted for the rest of the afternoon. Object magic and magic using ingredients was the most prudent way to use what little magic he had available to him. It was the type of magic that required quality over quantity, a certain level of skill. Even then, making just one charm like the ones his friends wore exhausted him. 

Raphael was the one who managed all of his profits and facilitated all of the sales of magic. Magnus could still remember the day he’d met the man, stumbling through the fog with his clothes torn. After he’d let Raphael in, tended to the cuts that he’d refused to explain. He’d hardly said two words, but when he saw the magical garden he’d simply asked ‘Are you selling these?’. Turns out there was a high demand for magical items and plants, and Raphael was ridiculously good at making those kinds of deals. Magnus had always thought it was because he was a man of few words, or more likely the way that he stared at people. Either way, it was good for them both. There weren’t exactly a lot of ways to make a profit when you were trapped in your home, and he wanted to be able to pay his friends fairly. Raphael became a friend too, even if he did spend a lot of time complaining about all of them.

When evening finally rolled around, Magnus was feeling a little worn. He’d finished up the charms that Raphael had written to request, but it had left him drained. Since he wasn’t feeling his best, he made sure to put extra effort into his appearance. While most saw it as a vanity, and Magnus wasn’t going to argue that it wasn’t at least partially that, it was also an armor. If he didn’t feel whole, he could make it seem like he did. His hair was spiked high and a new golden streak in the front, his eyes darkened with just a little bit of added sparkle of glitter, one of his favorite dark blue coats. He knew he looked good. 

The dining room was probably a bit much for a dinner for two. Clary usually went home to eat with her parents and dragged Simon along with her, and Maia was always too busy making sure nothing burnt in the kitchen. On occasion Magnus would skip the whole formal dining affair and just sit in the kitchen with her, but that was only when he was feeling his lowest. That was also usually when Maia would break out the hard alcohol. But since he did actually have a dinner guest tonight, they would be in the formal dining hall. The ornate table was long, but someone had set up two place settings across from each other on one end of the table. The ceilings were higher here, stretching up into the second story of the manor, and decorated with a few glittering chandeliers. 

There was just a little bit of disappointment in discovering that Alec wasn’t there yet. Magnus settled into one of the chairs, fingers curving over the carved arms. Six o’clock had been the time he’d given Alec, but arguably Magnus was a little early. He was grateful that Maia had already thought to pour the wine, and took a large sip. 

The time seemed to pass entirely too slowly, and still no Alec. His fingers drummed impatiently on the table. When he finally couldn’t stand the waiting any longer, Magnus pushed his hands against the table to stand and either just tell Maia to bring the food in or something more foolish like finding Alec, the man himself walked into the room. 

“S-sorry, am I late?” Alec questioned, standing in the doorway with his hands tucked into his pockets. Magnus marveled at how such a tall man could make himself look so small, granted the high ceilings probably helped, but his shoulders were hunched inwards and his head was ducked. It also wasn’t anything like the glimpse of the man that he’d gotten yesterday, when anger had made him a righteous angel on his siblings’ behalf. At least today he knew how to dress himself, or at least he'd made the effort for today's dinner. The black blazer settled over his shoulders was a little plain for Magnus' wardrobe, but it suited Alec.

“A little, but it would be hypocritical for me to be angry at someone for being fashionably late” Magnus winked as those lovely hazel eyes shot up to meet his, confusion and…ah, there was some of the anger he’d seen yesterday. Clearly, Alec was really trying to give this another shot, if he was holding himself back. 

Alec slowly and quietly made his way over to the other chair, pulling it back before sinking into it. He looked uncomfortable, but at least it didn’t look like a ‘I would much rather be anywhere but here’ discomfort. More, it looked like someone who just wasn’t in their element. Which was made even more obvious when Alec’s brow furrowed at the amount of cutlery on either side of his plate.  
“Start from the farthest out with the forks” Magnus explained, and watched Alec’s cheeks turn an absolutely delightful shade of red. 

“I knew that” He mumbled, eyes on his plate as his long fingers picked up the fork furthest from his plate. Before either of them could say anything else, Maia swept into the room with the food, very skillfully juggling the trays before positioning them in the middle of the table. From the considering look that she gave the two of them, Clary had probably told her about the fight, that or she was just judging Magnus for making this whole situation happen, which was a very distinct possibility. Maia hadn’t exactly been in favor of his hastily made decision.

Suffice to say, dinner was awkward. 

For the longest time neither of them said anything. Magnus was trying to be polite and let Alec lead the conversation since Magnus was far more likely to say something that would upset him. But Alec’s dark head stayed bowed over his plate and the only sounds in the room were of silverware scraping across plates. It was fraying at his nerves a little, making him antsy. He doubted that complete silence wasn’t what Clary had in mind when she insisted that the two of them get along. 

“Tell me about your family?” Magnus requested, and then almost immediately wanted to take it back. That was bound to be a hot button issue. But he also knew very little else about Alec. Asking him how he was settling in just seemed too…pedestrian. 

“Why?” Alec didn’t look mad at least, maybe there was a spark of irritation in there somewhere, but it mostly just looked like curiosity. 

“Well, you came here because you care about them. I’m curious what they’re like” Magnus said smoothly, trying to make his first question seem intentional rather than something he’d said out of frustration. 

Alec fiddled with his napkin for a moment, eyes looking anywhere but Magnus, tongue peeking out to swipe over his bottom lip. It took a quiet minute of indecision, long enough that Magnus thought it was going back to a silent dinner, before Alec finally spoke. 

“Uh, there’s my sister, Isabelle or Izzy. She’s brilliant. She’s two years younger than I am, but she’s hoping to graduate early. Izzy’s always been the bold one, breaks any rule that she doesn’t agree with and most of the time she gets away with it. I’m usually there the rest of the time.” Alec was smiling as he looked down at his plate, picking up his fork and toying idly with the food there, “Jace is the same age as Izzy, and he came to live with us when he was ten. He’s infuriatingly perfect when he’s not being a cocky asshole. He’s in the Idris Guard. Jace is great at it, if a little reckless.” 

Magnus wondered if Alec had decided to share all of this, or if it was just all spilling out. Alec seemed like the type of guy who could talk about his siblings all day if you let him, complaining and praising them with an impossible amount of fondness. 

“Max is the youngest. He’s already so smart. Would spend all day with his nose in a book if you let him. He’s also ridiculously good at getting his way” There was a little huff of a laugh that made Magnus lean forward a little more, his own dinner forgotten at the moment while he listened to Alec talk. 

“My parents…my parents have their political careers. They’re not at home much, but they write.” That wasn’t said with nearly as much fondness as everything Alec had said about his siblings. Which gave Magnus a clearer picture of the family dynamics. 

“And what about you Alexander? What is it that you do?” Magnus questioned, fingers curling around his wine glass again. 

“I am…or I _was_ studying to get my law degree. After that I was supposed to go into politics like my parents” The soft, fond tone and little smile Alec had just moments before were completely gone. Instead he said it with an almost detached air. 

“You don’t sound very enthused about that” Magnus commented, and nearly choked on his wine when those alluring hazel eyes were on him again, full of fire.  
“That’s none of your business” He snapped.

Well it looked like Magnus had found a sore spot, that certainly didn’t take long. 

“Relax Alexander, I’m only trying to make conversation. Unless you would like to sit in silence for this entire meal?” Magnus raised a brow, leaning forward to set his wine glass back down. 

The quiet after that was telling, like Alec was seriously considering just staying quiet for the remainder of the time they were sitting here. Magnus wanted to say something, but he also didn’t want to be the only one trying to make this work. If Alec was going to give up on trying to make nice that easily, Magnus certainly wasn’t going to keep pushing the subject. He, at least, could tell Clary that he’d tried. Eventually Alec did break the silence, with an utterly banal comment about the food, but it was _something_. From there it digressed into the small talk that Magnus had been trying to avoid earlier, asking about one another’s days while avoiding any topics that could potentially upset this wary truce the two of them had.

Alec seemed particularly interested when Magnus mentioned working with magic for most of the afternoon. There seemed to be some sort of realization happening that Magnus couldn’t quite piece together until he remembered that Alec hadn’t known about the magic business and the importance of the plants yesterday. Probably hadn’t realized why Magnus was angry. Of course, he didn’t look apologetic in any way, so Magnus supposed Alec still thought his reaction was an overreaction, and Magnus had to admit that perhaps it had been, but at the very least it gave him some clarity. It would be nice if that helped keep Alec from being perpetually angry at him, as good as he looked in black, Magnus didn’t want to be portrayed as the villain _all_ the time. 

They ended it quietly, if with a little bit of awkwardness, by bidding each other goodnight and silently acknowledging that it hadn’t gone all that badly. Magnus didn’t really feel any closer to Alec, but he was a bit less worried that the other was going to yell at him the next time he saw him. Even comforting himself a little in the knowledge that it might have been a step toward them actually talking to one another. That Alec had shown up at all made him seem a little less like a stubborn ass. 

The second dinner went much the way of the first, maybe Alec spent a little less time just staring down at his food while he spoke. It was mildly annoying to be stuck with mindless small talk over dinner, but Magnus usually dined alone, so any company wasn’t a huge hardship. It was almost nice, would have been nicer with a friend, but better than loneliness. 

On the fourth day Alec was there, and before their third dinner together, Magnus finally saw him during the day. It was entirely by chance, he was walking toward the library and happened to spot Alec through the window directing Simon in dragging something out from the shed. It was hard to see what it was, especially since the window didn’t exactly have a perfect view of where the two of them were.  
Curiosity got the best of him, and instead of heading to the library like he intended, he wandered downstairs and out into the gardens. 

The view was arresting. 

Muscles strained along his arm, well defined shoulders pulled tight, a sharp jawline brushed with stubble. Magnus stepped outside just in time to see Alec draw back the bowstring, the very picture of power and strength. Then the release, and an arrow that found itself buried in the center of a target. Idly, Magnus realized that was probably what Simon had been hauling out from the shed, that Alec must have asked him to. 

It was elegant, watching Alec shoot. While it could have been purely a display of raw power, there was a grace to Alec’s movements that Magnus hadn’t realized the man even possessed. Quietly, Magnus watched him notch another arrow and fire it at the target, hitting very close to the first one he’d shot. 

“I didn’t know you were an archer” Magnus pitched his voice loud enough to be heard and making sure to do so before Alec notched his next arrow. Being accidentally run through with an arrow didn’t sound very fun. 

Alec still flinched, his fingers tightening momentarily on the black bow. His head lifted, eyes searching around where he’d heard Magnus until he finally spotted him leaning against the stone railing. 

“You didn’t ask” Alec said simply, the bow falling to his side as he turned to face Magnus properly. 

“You make it very hard to ask questions, Alexander.” Magnus scoffed, letting his gaze linger on Alec’s exposed arms. He really was quite well defined, clearly the archery was doing something for him. 

Looking over, Magnus was surprised to see Alec’s gaze on him too. At first Magnus thought he might be just staring because of the way he dressed, or his eyes, out of some sort of curiosity. But the longer Alec’s gaze lingered from his eyes to his lips to the open portion of his shirt, the attention seemed distinctly appreciative. That was…different, and certainly not something he’d expected from Alec. The man barely looked at him the past two nights that they’d had dinner together, but now Magnus was starting to think that might be for other reasons. 

“Like what you see?” He asked with a raised brow and a smirk on his lips. The way Alec immediately flushed and looked away like he hadn’t realized he’d been staring confirmed what Magnus had been thinking. Though it looked like Alec wasn’t entirely comfortable with it. Was that because he was still angry at him and didn’t want to be attracted to Magnus in particular? Or was it the attraction to men in general? Or maybe a bit of both? 

Alec cleared his throat, “I used to shoot a lot more when I was younger. It calms me down and helps me focus” The change of subject was rather obvious. But since Alec was actually sharing a personal detail about himself, Magnus wasn’t going to call him out on it. “I needed to clear my head, so I asked Simon about doing this. We found the bow, arrows and target out here. I hope you don’t mind?” 

“Not at all. I liked what I saw” Magnus winked, and delighted in the way that Alec ducked his head, cheeks still pink. “Why don’t you shoot as much now?” 

“I have a makeshift range set up at home, but when I started getting more serious in school my parents told me I should probably stop in order to focus on my studies” Alec moved over to set the bow down on one of the decorative stone pedestals in the garden, then made his way over to where Magnus was standing, leaning back against the stone railing from the opposite side. 

“Is that what you wanted?” Magnus questioned, not even bothering to hide that his gaze slid across the firm line of Alec’s shoulders when he crossed his arms. 

“I…I don’t know. I think I wanted to do a few more competitions. It was fun, I was good at it” Alec tilted his chin back to look at the sky. 

“You’re fantastic at it from what I saw” He smiled a bit more genuinely. 

“Thanks” Alec glanced back down, looking startled. It made Magnus wonder if people paid him compliments often. 

It was quiet between them again, but this was a far more comfortable quiet than the ones that they’d experienced over dinner. 

“My parents were the ones who told me I was going to be a lawyer” Alec finally said, picking at the hem of his shirt. The answer wasn’t really new information to Magnus, it had been fairly easy to guess from the way Alec talked about his parents. But as long as Alec was talking about it, Magnus wasn’t going to stop him. 

“What would you have wanted to do instead?” Magnus asked curiously. 

“I’ve never really thought about it.” He admitted, turning so his hip was propped against the railing and he was facing Magnus, “Once I wanted to join the Idris Guard, but that was mostly because Jace had joined. My parents didn’t let me, they told me that a Lightwood would never be a lowly guard. I just hope they’ve never said that in front of Jace. They act like he’s the perfect son, the golden boy of our family, but then they go and say shit like that.” Alec’s dark brows furrowed. 

“I’ve known plenty of people like your parents” Magnus sighed, mind drawing back to the days of endless parties. “If it’s any consolation Alexander, you would have made a fine addition to the guard with those skills.” He tipped his head toward the target. 

Alec seemed to think that over for a moment before talking again, “What about you? If you weren’t trapped here what would you want to be doing? Would you still be selling magic?” 

There was a short moment when Magnus was startled, he hadn’t expected the question to be directed back at him. While he’d been trying to get information out of Alec the past two dinners with very little success, Alec hadn’t really shown much interest in getting to know him. But apparently today was full of surprises. 

“Traveling, I miss traveling. I traveled a lot before the curse. I used to be able to open a portal and step into an entirely different city. I would still make money with magic, though I wouldn’t have to rely as much on objects and ingredients, which is much more convenient and less time consuming.” It made something in his heart ache. For more than a hundred years he hadn’t been able to leave this manor. He missed it. Magnus missed the adventure of stepping into a new place, or greeting a familiar place like an old friend. Even before the curse he hadn’t been traveling as often, as he got wrapped up in the parties that would eventually be his undoing. That was the way of the world, wasn’t it? Not realizing how much you would miss something until it was suddenly taken away from you. 

“I’ve never been outside of Idris. Probably never will” Alec’s voice was much softer, tinged with something like longing. 

“Never say never, Alexander. You can’t know what the future holds” He murmured just as softly. 

Alec shot him a dubious look, pushing off from the railing and making his way back over to where the bow was resting on the stone platform. At least it hadn’t been a glare, Magnus had sort of thought it might be. But the way Alec said that, made it sound like he had never expected to get out of Idris even before coming here, that he’d already resigned himself to that fate a long time ago. It was disheartening, how much Alec seemed to be willing to give up to make the people around him happy. Noble, but it sounded like there was very little that Alec had done for himself. 

Picking up the bow, Alec notched another arrow and fired it at the target, it went a little astray of the first two but still stuck firmly. Magnus stepped away from the railing, clearly that was all he was going to get out of Alec right now. He had said that he was coming out here to clear his head, and Magnus might as well give him the space to do that. 

“I’ve got a few things I need to get done by this evening. I’ll see you at dinner?” Magnus called out, loud enough to be heard over the sound of another arrow hitting the target. 

“Yeah” was the simple reply, but more than enough to appease Magnus at the moment. 

Backing toward the door, Magnus stole back into the manor. 

Overall, an incredibly successful morning as far as getting to know his new guest. They’d had a substantial conversation without managing to get into an argument. He’d gotten a delightful view. There was also the small manner of learning that Alec may actually be more interested in him than previously thought, physically if not emotionally. It was progress. Hopefully dinner tonight would be more entertaining now that Alec didn’t seem quite as determined to shut Magnus out at every turn. 

Clary was going to be overjoyed. 

But at the moment, he did actually have work to get done that he’d postponed to go outside and talk to Alec. 

Though if he chose to sit by the library window with a clear view of the archer in his garden, no one but him needed to know. 


	5. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So admission time, I don't quite have the next chapter after this written yet, which is usually when I allow myself to publish a chapter. But, I'm heading out tonight with a friend, and really wanted to get out the next chapter before then. 
> 
> What I can tell you is that I am terrible at estimating how long some of these scenes are going to take. Because the next chapter is already at 4.5k and I still have another, fairly important, scene to write. So you can expect a long Magnus POV chapter after this one. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who is enjoying this. This is the most that I've written for anything in 5+ years and I don't think I would have kept going if not for all the sweet people who comment and give me kudos.

“Hey! Clary!” 

Alec almost tripped he was trying to get down the stairs too fast, which would have been embarrassing all around and was incredibly grateful for the fast reflexes that had him gripping the railing. At least it had gotten Clary to stop, pausing midway through putting on her jacket to stare up at Alec as he descended the rest of the stairs at a much slower pace to avoid actually managing to break his neck. 

“Hey” Clary said as soon as Alec finally made his way up to her. She definitely looked confused as she said it, which made sense, while Alec had definitely been less hostile the past couple of days he still hadn’t really gone out of his way to make friends with anyone either. So, him practically running after her while she was leaving probably looked a little weird. That also might explain why she looked a little bit alarmed.

“Listen, can I ask you for a favor?” He hates that he sounds out of breath, but running down the stairs and almost falling down them will do that. 

“Sure, what do you need?” Clary finishes putting on her jacket and looking more relaxed now that she knew there wasn’t any sort of emergency. 

Reaching into his pocket, Alec withdrew a folded piece of paper, no bigger than the palm of his hand. ‘Jace’ was written on one side in Alec’s no-nonsense straightforward handwriting, efficient but legible. 

“I know you and your parents live in a town nearby and I was wondering if there was any way you could get this to my brother?” Alec asked, holding out the note toward Clary. 

Finishing buttoning up her coat, Clary took the note between careful fingers, eyes scanning over the name on the front. “Why?” She asked, not even bothering to hide how suspicious she sounded. 

“I-I’m not trying to leave or anything, or give him directions here, I know that would be impossible. I just…my family is important to me” Alec reached up to rub the back of his neck, looking anywhere but Clary, “When I left, my siblings and I all thought I was walking into something awful. Locked in a cell or forced labor, something like that. I want to let them know that I’m okay and that being here isn’t all that bad.” 

Alec really didn’t like the Cheshire smile that lit up Clary’s face, “Are you saying that you actually like staying with us Alec?” 

“Hey, don’t go that far. I’m just saying it’s better compared to to rotting in a cell” Alec frowned, but that seemed to do very little to dim Clary’s smile.

“Still, that’s saying you don’t hate it here. You and Magnus are getting along better too” Clary pointed out with a glee that made Alec really just want to forget the whole thing and just shove Clary out the door. 

“We’re having dinner together and managing not to yell at each other, It’s not like we’re best friends” Alec rolled his eyes, it was very rapidly becoming a habit around Clary and Simon. “Look, can you just give him the letter? You can read it if you really suspect me of anything, but there’s an address written on the second fold. I just want to let them know that I’m alright.”

“I can do that. My day off is tomorrow so I’ll have time to go into the city and find him. Is that okay?” Clary tucked the note into the pocket of her jacket.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine. Whenever you can” Alec took a few steps backward, letting Clary gather up the rest of her things.

“Okay. I guess this is goodnight then, I’ll tell you how it went the day after tomorrow” Clary nodded quickly. Taking a few steps toward the door, she paused to look back at Alec, “For the record, I don’t agree with Magnus forcing you to come here, but I am really happy that you’re here Alec. I think you’re going to be good for this place.” 

With that, she slipped out of the door, leaving a baffled Alec in her wake. It took him a while to realize that he was still staring at the door.

He didn’t get what she meant. It’s not like he’d made any significant impact since he’d arrived. If anything, he felt like he was a footnote. Like, here’s this huge house with a cursed warlock and really friendly staff, and oh yeah there’s now also this other guy living there but he just shows up for dinner. The rest of the time he mostly just kept to himself. He’d spent the last couple days exploring the grounds and doing his best to put up with Simon’s chatter whenever he ran into him. Alec’s presence just didn’t seem…important. Especially since he’d only just stopped arguing with Magnus. 

At least their dinners were going better. Alec had felt so much anxiety over the first one, that he’d nearly missed it he’d been so distracted. It hadn’t gone particularly well either, like both of them were walking on eggshells. He could admit now that he’d been a little harsh in his judgement of Magnus. While he definitely still felt anger over the way that he’d ended up here, and over having to leave his family, Magnus wasn’t an awful person. He wasn’t perfect either, but Alec really couldn’t vilify him. Magnus was actually kind of interesting once you got to know him, he’d spent the last few dinners telling Alec traveling stories. 

Dinner that night went along the same lines, Magnus telling an elaborate story about getting banned from Peru while Alec listened and threw in the occasional comment. That was another thing that Alec really appreciated Magnus doing; he wasn’t pushing him to talk anymore. He might occasionally ask a question as a follow up to something Alec said, but it was never demanding. Magnus usually waited for Alec to share first. It made the evenings more comfortable, and Magnus had plenty of stories to tell now that he knew that Alec had never been out of Idris but was interested in hearing about it.   
Alec dreamt that night of scandalous adventures in Peru. 

He woke to the sound of rain on his windows. 

That immediately put a halt on any plans to explore the garden more today. The world was dreary outside, even the fog that usually lingered around the trees seemed to have faded back in the face of the pouring rain. It made the world seem a little grayer, a little blurrier. He’d just have to spend the day exploring inside. Which wasn’t really a hardship, this place was huge, and there were plenty of rooms that he hadn’t even been into yet. 

The guest bedrooms beside his all looked empty and unused, even a little bit dusty. Alec imagined that Clary definitely didn’t have the time to clean every single one of them. That was something for a staff of people to do, not one girl and her best friend. He made a mental note to ask Clary if there was anything he could do around there. Alec didn’t like being idle, especially not when everyone else was working hard. 

Further down the hallway he stumbled into a large room that had to be some kind of ballroom. It looked like it hadn’t been used in years, the piano in the corner was covered in a thick layer of dust and Alec was wincing at the thought of how out of tune it must be. Even underneath all of that, he could see how it would have been beautiful once. There were painted murals on the ceiling, of faeries, warlocks, angels and demons. Magnus probably held plenty of balls here, filling the room with life and light. He tried not to linger in the room for too long, there were plenty of other rooms to explore and ones that would probably be a lot less dusty. 

For a while he just wanders down the hallway, inspecting the various paintings and objects hung up on the walls. He almost thinks he sees someone who looks a lot like Dr. Loss in one of the paintings, but shakes it off as missing home. Again, there doesn’t really seem to be a theme to what is placed where, but it all works together and creates such an interesting picture that Alec doesn’t even question it. 

An open door at the end of one hallway draws him in, and when Alec steps inside he’s momentarily stunned. 

It’s a library, with shelves all the way to the ceiling. The soft patter of rain is a lot louder there, probably due to the skylights overhead that let the cloud dulled light in. Several tables are placed in the open space between the shelves, piled with books and reminding Alec of the university library. But the university library didn’t have the comfortable looking chairs, or the long couch. It also didn’t have Magnus Bane wandering around a corner with a book in his hands, mumbling at something he was reading.

Magnus didn’t even notice him at first, which gave Alec a second to just observe him. He was more dressed down than he usually was, shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows and his hair looking decidedly softer. Maybe the dreary weather had something to do with it, or maybe Magnus didn’t dress up while he worked. Alec watched him drag one painted fingernail along the page of the book. Then his head was lifting and those bewitching golden eyes were on him, wide and a little startled. 

“Alexander, to what do I owe this unexpected visit?” Magnus leans over to place the open book on the table and Alec tries very hard not to look at the way his shirt stretches across his broad shoulders.  
“I uh…wasn’t exactly looking for you, I just saw the door was open. It’s raining” The longer he heard himself talk, the more he just wanted to turn around and never return.  
“I can see that” There was definitely an amused curl to Magnus’ lips as he watched Alec.

“I mean, it’s raining and I couldn’t go outside? So, I’ve been wandering around here and the door was open so I…well I’m here. I didn’t mean to disturb you or anything” Alec was really, really considering just running away. Maybe he could hide in the kitchens with Maia. 

“You didn’t disturb me. I could use a break, actually. I’ve been puzzling over the same problem all morning and don’t seem to be getting anywhere with it” He sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. 

“Anything I can help with?” Alec was really hoping to distract from how awkward he’d been.

“Not unless you’re proficient in thousand-year-old spells” Magnus raised a brow at him, clearly still amused. 

Alec’s cheeks were warm as he shuffled further into the library, eyes trailing along the bookshelves up to where the rain pattered against the glass overhead. “This is a great library.”

At that Magnus looked almost gleeful, “Isn’t it? It’s my favorite room in the house. It also happens to be my office, and Raphael’s whenever he graces us with his presence.” 

There was a low table along the wall that was stacked with books as well as several bowls and items and plants that Alec couldn’t even begin to identify. Though clearly all the tables around the makeshift desk were being used in conjunction with that, given the number of open books and random items scattered around. Walking further inside, Alec noticed another, tidier desk that had to be for the elusive Raphael. It made sense from what he’d heard about the man that it was completely on the other side of the room from Magnus’.

“Do you like to read?” Magnus asked, shifting his weight so he could lean his hip into a nearby shelf. 

“What kind of question is that? Who doesn’t like to read?” Alec frowned. 

“You’d be surprised” Magnus laughed, arms crossing over his stomach as he watched Alec. 

Shaking his head in disbelief, Alec wandered further into the room, scanning the titles on the shelves, reaching up to run his fingers along them occasionally. Magnus seemed to have a little of everything, classics to textbooks to cookbooks. There were some in different languages but still looked well read. 

“I grew up reading. My parents had a friend named Hodge, and we called him Uncle Hodge. He owns this bookshop that we spent a lot of our childhood in. When it was just Iz, Jace and me, we would get away from our caretaker and find our way to Hodge’s shop. We’d spend all day there reading. Later, all of us would take Max there. It’s probably about half the size of this library with just as many books” Alec recalled fondly, still wandering along the shelves of books. It was getting easier to tell Magnus things. 

“That sounds like an amazing place to be” Magnus voice came from a few shelves over, left behind in Alec’s quest to explore.

“It was, always better than hanging out at home. We used to go there on days like this too, when it was too rainy to do anything else. Max would have me read from one of his books because I had the best reading voice, and Jace and Iz were in charge of acting it out” There was a fond smile on his lips as he picked up a book with a beautiful desert scene imprinted on the cover.

“What kind of books were they?” Magnus’s voice drifted over, closer this time, like he was weaving through the shelves to find Alec. But Alec was still very much distracted with the book in his hand.

“Anything and everything, Max isn’t picky, though on those days it was more adventure books. He’s been really into this one series, The Fell Chronicles?” Alec thought that was the title of the series.

A startled laugh came from the next row over, “I know the series, or I know the man. Ragnor Fell is an old curmudgeon, but he can write. Actually, I’m pretty sure he used some of his travels with me as the basis for those books.”

“Really?” Alec grinned, Max would love that. He’d probably love all of Magnus’ stories really, he’d find them just as entertaining as Alec did. That thought made him freeze. When had he gone from thinking he needed to keep Max as far away from here as possible to thinking that Magnus and Max would get along amazingly. He knew that he’d misjudged Magnus, but was that really enough to suddenly want to have his younger brother around him? Maybe it was.

“Alexander?” Magnus’ hand landed on Alec’s shoulder and made him jump, turning his head to find the man standing right next to him. They were so close, their faces a mere six inches apart from one another and Magnus’ hand was still on his shoulder. Up close, he could take in every detail of his face, and notice how incredibly easy it would be to just lean over and close the distance between them.   
Finally, Alec’s brain kicked back in and he hurriedly backed up a few steps, fingers closed tight around the book in his hands. “What?” He asked, immediately hating that it didn’t come out nearly as strong or steady as he wanted it to. 

“I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just going to ask if you wanted to have Maia bring up tea and coffee. She offered to bring me some earlier but I was in the middle of something. Now I’ve got company, so it seemed like it might be a good time” Magnus reached up to fiddle with the cuff in his ear. 

“Uh, yeah, coffee sounds good” Alec managed, “I was going to maybe grab the couch and start reading this” He held up the book. 

“Excellent, because I do actually have to get back to work and can’t spend all afternoon entertaining you” Magnus winked, “but you’re welcome to spend as long as you like here.”

He turned and wandered toward the doors, presumably to tell Maia that they’d like coffee. Alec wandered over to the couch he’d seen, sinking into it and opening the book he’d picked. It really was good, Alec was quickly sucked in and hardly noticed when Magnus set a cup of coffee on the table. It was only somewhat warm when Alec actually noticed it a little while later. 

But it was comfortable, probably more comfortable than Alec had felt anywhere outside of Hodge’s shop with his siblings. With the rain still hitting the glass overhead, and the occasional soft murmur, shuffle of paper, or clinking of bowls from Magnus’ side of the room. Magnus was actually probably a more relaxing companion than his siblings, who very often demanded his attention, not even sometimes because they wanted it but just because Alec wanted to make sure that they were okay and not getting into trouble. With Magnus, he didn’t have to worry so much, just keep reading and take comfort in the knowledge that he wasn’t alone. 

Alec didn’t even know he’d fallen asleep with the book on his chest until Magnus shook him gently awake and told him it was time for dinner.  
He went to bed that night dreaming of deserts and adventure. 

The consequence to going to napping the afternoon away and still managing to go to bed on time was that Alec woke up absurdly early. The sky was just beginning to lighten outside his window and Alec found himself wide awake.

Remembering the balcony he’d spotted during his explorations yesterday, he figured he might as well make use of this early morning to do something he rarely got the opportunity to. Wrapping the comforter around his shoulders, Alec realized that he probably looked ridiculous and was profoundly grateful that there likely wasn’t going to be anyone else up and about at this time of morning.   
Only, when he stepped out into the cold morning air and onto the balcony, he figured out he wasn’t. 

Magnus Bane was already laid out on one of the lounge chairs, a fluffy and warm looking dressing gown wrapped around him. Looking far better at that hour of the morning than Alec ever had a hope of doing. He looked up at Alec when he opened the French doors and all Alec could do for a moment was just shuffle awkwardly for a moment, wondering if he should just go back inside and leave Magnus to his morning. But when Magnus simply turned his gaze back on the horizon where the light was just beginning to spill, Alec carefully shut the doors behind him and moved toward the other lounge chair. 

Neither of them seemed to want to break the easy silence they found themselves in. Alec laid back and adjusted the blanket around himself as he watched light slowly started fanning across the gardens below them. The quiet between them lasted for a while. He wondered idly if Magnus had actually gone to sleep. He looked tired, like he was seconds away from falling asleep in the lounge chair. It made Alec feel a little guilty, wondering if he was disturbing a sort of rest for the warlock. After a while, Alec finally spoke.

“Can I ask you something?” Alec wrapped the blanket tighter around his shoulders, turning his head to look at Magnus. He was beautiful like this, his skin practically glowed in the pink early morning sun.   
“You can ask, but I won’t promise I’ll answer” Magnus’s eyes met Alec’s and he winked.

Ignoring the warmth he could feel in his face, Alec continued on, “Simon gave me a very quick rundown of this whole curse situation the night I got here. He said, roughly, that the Seelie Queen cursed you because you never cared about anyone and that you were selfish.” Eyes dropping, he fiddled with the edge of the blanket. He wasn’t sure if this was something that he could ask, Clary and Simon made it seem like something that Magnus wasn’t going to share himself. 

“Among other things. But that wasn’t a question, Alexander” Magnus prompted, and at least he didn’t look angry. If anything, he looked tired, tilting his head back onto the cushion of the chair and watching Alec with his golden eyes. 

“I know. I guess I just…don’t get it. That doesn’t sound like you. I mean sure, you’re dramatic and have kind of an expensive sense of style, but you’re not selfish, and you definitely care about people. Clary, Simon, Raphael and Maia are proof of that. So I think what I’m asking is…why?” Alec’s brow furrowed. Magnus just didn’t seem like the type of person that people cursed. He could be an asshole, Alec’s mere presence here was an example of that, but couldn’t everyone? Alec certainly hadn’t been at his best a number of times, several of which since he came here. But it was so obvious that he cared about his friends. 

A frown pulled at Magnus’ lips and Alec immediately wanted to take the question back. This morning had been so good, they’d been getting along and they hadn’t managed to get into an argument so far. Even they’d been avoiding each other for a week or so, Alec didn’t want to argue with him again. He already realized that his first impression of Magnus hadn’t been right, even if his anger had been pretty justified at the time. Going back to arguing just felt like taking steps backward. 

“I…wasn’t always the person that I am now. When the Seelie Queen found me, I was probably at my lowest point. Of course, it didn’t feel like it then, I thought I was in my prime. I threw lavish parties so I could keep my house from feeling empty, became the man that everyone needed to know in order to be _somebody_. I didn’t have a lot of companionship in my life and what little I did have was always temporary.” Magnus folded his hands over his stomach, eyes staring off into the distance where the pink sunlit rays were dancing along the treetops. The sun even made the fog rolling along the edge of the tree line look comforting, like a soft misty blanket. 

“But I mean, even if you were like that, that doesn’t mean that she…that you should have been cursed. You care about people” Alec huffed, hunching down into his blanket, pulling the ends up closer to around his ears, which were turning a little pink in the cold. Autumn was very quickly rolling over into winter, the first snow couldn’t be that far off. The grounds here would probably look beautiful covered in white snow. 

“I learned to care about people, over time, and some very stubborn housekeepers.” Magnus chuckled, it was a deep, warm sound that Alec couldn’t come up with any other word for except magical. “Though I probably still wouldn’t have let her into my house. It was the eyes, she changed everything about her appearance but the eyes.” 

Alec tucked his nose under the hem of his blanket, eyes out along the horizon. He couldn’t help but think that it still wasn’t right. That even if Magnus had been a different person back then it wasn’t fair that he was still trapped here, confined in his own home and having to exhaust his magic just to make sure that his friends could come back and see him again. 

“You still didn’t deserve it” He murmured, just loud enough that he knew Magnus would hear him. 

There was nothing but the occasional chirping of birds after that. The silence stretched between them as Alec waited for Magnus to say something. After a while he wondered if maybe he’d said the wrong thing. Again, maybe he shouldn’t have brought up the curse at all, it was obviously a sore spot for Magnus and he and Alec were only barely friends if that. What was he supposed call a somewhat amiable relationship with the man who was technically his captor? Fingers clenched in the bedspread, Alec finally turned to look at Magnus and was startled to find the warlock staring at him. 

Those golden cat eyes were searching Alec’s face. For what felt like a long time, Alec could only stare back. He was a little struck by how beautiful he looked out here. He’d vaguely noticed the way the sunlight lit him up earlier, but that had become even more apparent as the light grew more golden. It brushed across his cheekbones in exactly the right way, caressed the line of his jaw where he’d turned his head to look at Alec. The longer he lingered the more he noticed little things, like exactly how much green there was in his eyes and the exact curve of his lips. But as soon as his thoughts started lingering on the latter, Alec forced himself to look away. 

“What?” It came out more breathless than demanding. 

“You continue to surprise me, Alexander” Magnus finally said, and when Alec glanced up he caught his lips curving into a smile. 

“In good ways, I hope?” Alec smiled back, and it felt genuine. There wasn’t that little bubble of concern he felt whenever it seemed like he was enjoying his time here, enjoying time with Magnus. Maybe it wasn’t so bad that he’d ended up here, the stress that had constantly pushed down on him out in the real world wasn’t there anymore, he could spend his days exploring or reading whatever he wanted.   
“In the best ways” Magnus confirmed, voice soft, still watching Alec. 

The moment was broken by a quick rap of knuckles on the glass of the door behind them, making both of them jump. 

Clary poked her head out as she opened the door. “Sorry interrupt, but could I talk to you Alec?” She fidgeted and Alec was immediately on edge. Something was making Clary nervous.   
Abandoning his bedspread on the lounge chair, Alec stood and stretched, keenly feeling Magnus’ eyes on him as he did so. 

“Yeah, sure” He muttered, stepping toward the door. He wanted to ask if it was about the letter he’d asked her to send, but he also didn’t want to ask about it in front of Magnus. They’d already had enough arguments about Alec being here as it was. Even if Alec had only sent the letter to let his family know he was alright, he didn’t want to give him the wrong impression. Clary had been suspicious, and Clary and Alec hadn’t gotten into a full-on shouting match.

After the French doors were closed behind them, Alec looked to Clary for explanation, but she just tilted her head down the hall as an indication for him to follow her. Padding barefoot down the hallway, he followed Clary along the series of twists and turns that led toward the front of the house. The manor really was big, thankfully Alec actually had a decent sense of direction or he might have gotten lost his first couple days here. 

“Clary, what’s going on? Did everything go alright with getting Jace the letter?” Alec finally couldn’t stand the silence or the suspense anymore. 

She froze in making her way down the hallway, before Alec heard her take a deep breath. Then she was looking over her shoulder at Alec, “So, there was a tiny complication with that. Which is why you really need to follow me downstairs? Just trust me on this Alec.”

Still feeling wary, Alec nodded and followed Clary down the stairs and into the main hallway. Reaching for the handle of the main door, Clary hefted it open, holding it for Alec to step outside. Which was mildly unsettling. 

“Alec!” 

“Jace!?” Sure enough, his blond brother was unfolding himself from the front step. Looking almost as surprised as Alec was. Though as Jace looked him over like he was assessing for injuries, Alec guessed it was less a case of actually seeing Alec as it was how he looked. Sleep mussed hair, comfortable t-shirt and loose pajama pants, bare feet, not starved or injured, not really typical prisoner wear. He should have guessed that Jace would have glossed over a lot of the things he’d said in the letter.

“What are you doing here? Is Max alright?” Alec finally asked, lifting his hands to rub his bare arms, wishing suddenly that he’d actually brought the bedspread, or even just stopped and gotten a jacket. Because it was too damn cold to be out here like this. 

“He made me bring him back with me, even after I gave him the letter” Clary was glaring at Jace, closing the front door behind her and standing just a little behind Alec. 

“Jace, seriously?” Alec turned his gaze back to his brother, who was glaring back at Clary. 

“I had to make sure you were alright. Max is fine, the plant helped with some of his pain.” Jace said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Alec sighed, “If you had actually read the letter I asked Clary to bring you, I told you I was fine.”

“That doesn’t mean anything! You could have just written that to make us all feel better about sending you here” Jace gritted out, looking away from both Alec and Clary. There was a defensive hitch to his shoulders.

“Well, you can see I’m fine.” Alec gestured to himself, looking decidedly not in need of a rescue. 

“You sure?” Jace finally looked at Alec. 

“Yeah, Jace, I’m sure. I don’t mind staying here” He sighed, taking a step forward and past Jace to sit on the step, gesturing for Jace to join him. 

For a while the both of them were quiet, then Jace spoke up, “Mom and Dad are home.” 

“Did you tell them what happened?” Alec asked, arms wrapping around his knees as he hunched against the cold. 

“Yeah, Maryse was pretty hard on Iz, but they were worried about you. They tried telling the police, but no one would do anything” Jace shrugged. 

“I’m not surprised. About any of it. Though they shouldn’t be on Izzy’s case, it was my decision” Alec muttered. But he knew his parents, and knew that it wasn’t likely to happen. Nor were they going to actually consider their own part in this whole mess, by simply not being there for their children. 

“You should come home Alec” Jace’s dual colored eyes are suddenly on him, staring at him seriously. 

“I can’t” Was Alec’s automatic reply, his fingers tightening where they were wrapped on his legs. 

“Why not? We need you Alec, and if they’re really as nice as you say, they should let you go” Jace argued, jaw tensing. 

“One, because I still have this” Alec reached down and pulled the ruby from beneath his shirt, “Two, because I said I’d come here in return for saving Izzy and Max, and I’m going to keep that promise.” 

“That’s such bullshit Alec. You shouldn’t have to be trapped here. Even if this place is better than we thought, you’re still a _prisoner_.” Jace had pushed off from his sitting position, hands clenched angrily at his sides. 

“Yeah, I am. But that was what I chose, remember?” Alec frowned, refusing to get to his feet just to appease Jaces’ need for an argument. 

Eventually, Jace sat back down, since Alec refused to rise to the bait and argue. Alec realized something then, watching Jace stare at the ground. He was guilty, he’d seen it a little bit in his eyes and posturing when they’d first started talking. Alec didn’t know if that was guilt because Jace felt the same as Alec, that he wanted to protect his family, or because he wanted to be the one to sacrifice himself in this whole situation. Jace had something of a hero complex, not a monstrous one, but it probably had been his initial reason for joining the guards. It had also led him to make a few more reckless decisions. So if Alec had to guess, it was probably a little bit of both. 

“I miss you Alec” Jace spoke much quieter. 

“I miss you too, and Izzy and Max. But I’m going to see this through. Magnus makes this charms that can guide people to this place. Maybe if I do a little work around here to equal out payment for one, you, Izzy and Max can come see me whenever you want.” Alec smiled a little, reaching out to wrap an arm around Jace’s shoulders and tug him closer. Getting a charm was something he’d thought about for a few days. He’d never ask Magnus to make one for free, knowing how little magic he had at his disposal. But if his siblings could come visit him here, that would make some of his anxiety lessen.

“You really aren’t going to come back?” Jace asked, his arm wrapping around Alec in return. 

“No, it’s weird, but I feel like I’m in the right place right now” Alec glanced back over their shoulders to Clary, who seemed to be waiting patiently for the two of them to talk it out. When she saw Alec looking she gave him a bright smile. 

It took a little longer to finally convince Jace that he should go home, with Simon showing up partway through and offering to take Jace back since he had some things to pick up in town. They got on strangely well, which made sense but also just really didn’t to Alec. But he left that thought alone in favor of going back up to his room and finishing the book he’d started yesterday. 

When he got down to dinner that night, immediately something felt off. Magnus didn’t greet him like he usually did. Actually, Magnus’ whole manner just seemed uncharacteristic of him, or at least the him that Alec thought he knew. He was fiddling with his rings, and hardly even seemed to notice Alec walked in the room let alone took the seat across from him. The wine glass in front of him was nearly empty, Alec might not have known it was full in the first place except for the thin sliver of red liquid still lingering at the bottom of the cup. 

The tension lasted, with neither of them saying a word to one another, past Maia bringing in the trays. She looked warily between them, and Alec could understand that, this felt entirely too much like their first meal together. Long silences and unsaid words, only the sound of silverware scraping against plates. Finally, Alec took in a breath to say _something_ but Magnus beat him to it. 

“I heard your brother stopped by today” It was said with a practiced air of indifference, he didn’t even look up at Alec as he idly moved his fork around his plate. 

A sigh of relief left Alec’s lips, if that’s what this was all about then he could clear that up quickly, “Yeah, he followed Clary here after I asked her to deliver a letter letting him know I was alright. I made him leave with Simon.” 

“Clary said he asked you to leave with him” Magnus didn’t sound any different and there was still tension in his shoulders. 

“He did, but I told him no” Alec explained, picking up his water glass and taking a sip. 

“Why?” Magnus finally looked up at him.

“What do you mean why?” His brow furrowed as he set down his glass again. 

“Why did you say no?” There was a firmness in Magnus’ tone, he was clearly looking for something, but Alec couldn’t even begin to guess what. 

“Well, one, I’m still wearing this” Alec gestured vaguely to the ruby necklace that was on display, “But it’s also my duty to stay, I said I would, in exchange for my sister stealing.”

“That’s it?” Magnus asked, terse. 

“That’s…it?” Alec repeated, still confused why Magnus seemed so angry. 

“No other reasons?” Alec could see Magnus’ knuckles turning white from where they were clenched around his fork.

“What other reasons do I need?” He was very rapidly getting irritated, because Magnus seemed to be angry at him for no reason. 

“I thought maybe you…but of course not” Magnus finally tossed the fork aside and reached for his drink, draining the last of the wine. 

“What are you talking about? I don’t know what’s going on here” Alec snapped. 

Suddenly Magnus was pushing his hands on the surface of the table and getting to his feet. There was a snap of his fingers and Alec could feel the chains of the ruby necklace slip from his neck and the pendant drop into his lap.

“If that’s how you feel, you can leave then. Get out of here, leave!” Magnus glared at Alec from across the table. 

Alec could only stare, his fingers picking the necklace out of his lap and placing it on the table. 

“Magnus? I don’t understand, what did I do?” Alec felt like he was in some kind of warped reality. Everything had been fine this morning, and now Magnus was kicking him out. 

“If this is just an obligation to you, go home Alexander” Magnus pointed to the door with one painted fingernail. 

“What, seriously, what is going on…” Nothing made any sense, and Alec couldn’t get up either, still in shock. 

Then he really started to puzzle over what Magnus was saying, fitting some of the pieces together. It started to make some sort of sense, and his suspicions sent a cold feeling down Alec’s spine. That…it couldn’t be, but it was the only thing that fit. 

“How do you break the curse Magnus?” Alec’s voice was icy, his fingers clutched around the ruby. 

“What?” Magnus looked momentarily shocked. 

“How do you break the curse?” Alec asked again, more slowly, staring across the table at Magnus. 

“I don’t see why you need to know that Alexander, that doesn’t have anything to do with this” He said forcefully, leaning forward on the table. 

“What do you have to do to break the curse?” Alec asked for a third time, rising out of his seat. 

There was a tense silence before Magnus finally gritted out, “I have to love someone and be loved in return, romantically.”

“And you thought that I? I’m not like that Magnus, and I’m your prisoner” Alec’s hand hit the table with enough force to rattle the dinnerware. 

“You’re not my prisoner any longer. And I know you feel what I feel” The warlock glared across the table, but it seemed to lose some of its intensity. 

Images flashed in Alec’s head, of Magnus coming to watch him shoot, or laughing over dinner with him, their moment in the library, or how beautiful he’d looked this morning on the balcony. But he pushed them away, that was something he wouldn’t let himself feel. Not ever, not for anyone. 

“You have no idea how I feel” Alec snapped, tossing the necklace onto the table. Then he was pushing away from the table, and storming out of the room. If Magnus wanted him to leave, then fine, he’d leave. Alec didn’t even bother to go back to his room to get his things, anger was still hot in his veins as he yanked open the door and stepped out into the cold air. He’d find Clary later and ask for his stuff, but he really needed to get out of there now. 

Thankfully, his horse was easy to find, and the tack easily accessible. It didn’t take long to have him saddled and dashing away from the manor quickly. The bite of the cool air made Alec wish he’d worn something a little warmer, but it also felt good on his anger warmed skin. As they passed through the gate, Alec spared a glance back at the manor, at the lights flickering in the windows. Just beginning to get used to it, and now he was out here again. Clary was probably going to be angry, likely Maia too.

Alec should have been paying more attention.

His thoughts clouded his head and he’d failed to hear the noises of something else inside the woods. He’d just gotten past the fog when he finally heard it, but by then they were too close. The snarling was what drew his attention, but only in time to see a dark shape darting out of the bush beside them before his horse was rearing up and sending Alec to the ground. He hit hard, it knocked the breath out of him and his elbow shot through with pain. Scrambling backwards, Alec tried to avoid the scared footfalls of his horse while simultaneously on alert for their attackers. 

Though it was dark, Alec could just make out the shapes of the approaching creatures, wolves. They prowled closer, clearly with their prey in sight. Alec reached for the closest thing he could find, a large stick, and swung it at them. It was enough to have a few of them taking a couple steps backwards, but it was increasingly clear that there were too many of them for Alec to fight off. Even if he did manage to swing and get one of them, the others would use that opportunity to close in on him. 

There wasn’t a way out of this. Alec was going to die here. 

A shimmering to his left caught his eye, and he marveled as a large circle of light appeared in the clearing. It had attracted both his attention and the attention of the wolves, and Alec moved to use that to his advantage when Magnus Bane stepped out of the portal. He staggered on his second step, seeming to barely be able to hold himself up. But his fingers still folded and weaved in a complex set of motions. There was a red burst of light that flew in their direction and Alec instinctively ducked, but it only sent the wolves around him flying in the opposite direction. He could vaguely hear their scampering as they rushed to get away after they landed. 

“Magnus-” Alec turned to say thank you, but it got caught in his throat as he watched Magnus crumple to the ground, “Magnus!” 

Wasting no time, Alec ran across the short distance and slid to his knees. Magnus had lost a lot of color and he was shaking. Putting an arm underneath his knees and another behind his back, Alec lifted Magnus into his arms. He didn’t even really think about it, he just knew that he needed to get Magnus back to the manor. They could work out all their issues later. Right now, Magnus had saved his life and was now suffering because of it.


	6. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long to get up compared to the others. It's been a week, and my muse has been down.  
> The good news is, since I'm already finished writing the next chapter that means there's only one left to write and possibly a short epilogue!  
> Thank you all for your support, you have no idea how much every single comment motivates me. Even the critiques push me to be a better writer and cause me to look at my work in a new way. So thank you for sticking with me through this.

Coming to was slow, and made Magnus painfully aware of a dull throbbing in his head. It settled right behind his eyes, a steady pain that told him over and over again that he was an idiot. But he also became aware of the firm pillow beneath his cheek, and the sound of a fire crackling somewhere nearby. There was a hand in his hair, carding through the strands in a way that eased back some of the pain. It was nice, he wondered if Clary had come out and gotten him after he’d fainted. 

It had been stupid to use a portal. They took quite a bit of magic even when his wasn’t limited. He hadn’t even tried to make one since he’d been trapped here, what would be the point? Anywhere he would want to portal to would be outside the boundaries. 

That had been a kick in the chest too, the curse. He hadn’t tried to step out of the boundaries of the manor in at least fifty years, Magnus had forgotten what it felt like to suddenly have every muscle and bone ache, that sharp pain in his head that desperately told him to return to his safe imprisonment. 

But, Alec had been in trouble. 

After Alec had stormed out, Magnus had slumped back into his dining room chair. The anger was still there, knowing that Alec was willing to deny whatever it was between them. But more than that, he’d felt defeated. When he’d taken out the charmed glass he’d only intended to make sure that Alec was on his way home. He cared about Alec, and maybe he’d been trying to force a different connection too quickly, but he still already considered him a friend. Truly he just wanted to at least have the knowledge that Alec was safe at home. But then he’d seen Alec fall from his horse. 

Magnus had barely even thought about it. One of the people he cared about was in danger. 

It made him smile now, even though his head was pounding. How long ago had it been that he had no one that he was willing to sacrifice that much for? He wanted to find the Seelie Queen and point to his friends, the loved ones that he was willing to sacrifice his wellbeing for. Surely that was enough to say that he had changed. Not to mention it was highly problematic to say that one needed romantic love in their life to be a fulfilled, whole person. 

As his headache worsened, Magnus should really avoid contemplating his existence right now, he grimaced. The hand in his hair paused, indicating that whoever it was realized that Magnus was finally awake. 

“Keep doing that” Magnus grumbled, burying his face further into his pillow. Which probably wasn’t a pillow, judging by the warmth and the way it shifted under his head. Also, it was quite a bit firmer than a normal pillow, much more like someone’s lap. 

The hand returned, but now Magnus was curious. It took a while for him to be able to open his eyes, the first attempt went horribly and he quickly had to close them again, but the second attempt had him blinking blearily. There was a fire roaring in the hearth, the glow from the flames the only light in an otherwise dark room. From his position, he was probably laid out on the couch in the sitting room. Groaning softly, Magnus shifted onto his back despite the whole body ache he was experiencing.

He wasn’t expecting to look up into hazel eyes. They were dazzling in this light, Magnus knew he was the warlock, but with the firelight hitting Alec’s eyes they seemed to glow supernaturally. 

“I thought you would have left” Magnus finally said, since Alec seemed to be shocked into inaction. That or he’d been waiting for Magnus to make the first move. 

Alec opened and closed his mouth a couple times, like he was trying to find the right words. Magnus was far too tired to rush him, and just adjusted to be more comfortable with his head propped on the other man’s thigh while he waited. 

“We have some things to talk about. I also didn’t want to leave before I could say thank you” Alec finally said, his voice soft. Magnus couldn’t help but appreciate that, though his headache was easing up. 

“You’re welcome, Alexander” Magnus murmured.

“I wouldn’t have made it out of the woods without you. You nearly didn’t make it out” Alec frowned down at him. 

“It would take much more than that to kill me” The warlock hummed, letting his eyes slip closed for a moment. “What do we need to talk about?” 

“That can probably wait until you’ve had more time to rest” Alec protested above him, he was probably still frowning too. There was something endearing about his overprotective instincts. 

“I’m fine, I’ve got a bit of a headache and I’m going to be aching for the next couple days, but we can talk” Magnus opened his eyes again, further endeared by the genuine concern on Alec’s face, “Besides, it might be easier now that neither of us has the energy to fight.”

Alec nodded, and his hand continued threading through Magnus’ hair, like he didn’t even realize he was doing it anymore. Though he vaguely remembered telling him to keep going when he first woke up. Magnus wondered if it was something Alec did with his siblings. Either way, he certainly wasn’t going to tell Alec to _stop_.

“I just wanted to explain, or I guess, tell you something about me” Alec looked away.

Magnus just waited for Alec to speak again, and eventually he felt more than heard the sigh. 

“When I was sixteen, my parents caught me with a boy. We weren’t doing anything too scandalous, just kissing, but they freaked out. The other boy’s parents freaked out worse. Where my parents were more upset because of the scandal that it could potentially cause, his parents were much more religious. Of course, them making a big deal out of it also made my parents more concerned about scandals” Alec gestured with his free hand. “I tried to talk to them, convince them that the two of us were in love and if they could only see that they would understand.”

“Were you?” Magnus asked gently, watching Alec’s face. 

“Was I what?” His brow furrowed in confusion. 

“Were you in love?” 

“I…I thought I was. I thought he was too. But when I tried to see him again, he said differently. Told me he’d never loved me, and now he’d seen the error of his ways. They moved after that, to a different town, in another part of Idris” Alec reached up as if to grasp something near his collarbones, but the hand fell when he realized it wasn’t there. Magnus hadn’t realized the necklace had started to become ingrained in Alec’s habits. He didn’t even know where it was, probably still downstairs on the table unless Maia had picked it up. 

“What happened with your parents?” Magnus had a feeling he could guess, from what Alec had told him about his parents. 

“They tried to be understanding, I guess, or at least my Mom did. My dad, he acts like he cares but you can tell his attention is anywhere but there. With my mom at least, you have her entire attention, good or bad. But it was also explained to me thoroughly how that type of behavior was bad for the family, and bad for my future. My sexuality could jeopardize everything they worked for. It was a long lecture, but that was the gist of it” Alec took another deep breath, “So I-I just couldn’t be…that.” 

Magnus turned on his side, this time so he was facing Alec’s hip, “You’re no longer at home Alexander, so why are you hiding here?” He asked, genuinely curious. 

“I don’t know. I’ve buried everything for so long. I don’t want to disappoint them. I know I’m doing that by being here. I guess I don’t want to give them any more reason to hate me” Alec’s voice rumbled above Magnus. 

“Alexander, sacrificing yourself for your siblings shouldn’t be something your parents should be disappointed in. For that matter, being yourself isn’t something that they should hate you for” Magnus tilted his head back so he could look at Alec. At the very least a lot of his aches were easing away. He was still tired, but his magic was replenishing. It wouldn’t take away every hurt, he’d still stepped outside the bounds, but enough that every move wasn’t agony. 

“They had this whole future planned for me, and I ruined it” Alec’s fingers finally left Magnus’ hair to reach up and rake through his own. 

“Maybe it’s time to figure out your own plan. One that you actually want to do, that will make you happy. I’m not implying that it’s staying here. But you can, if you need time to figure out what you want” Magnus offered. 

“I’ll think about it” Was all Alec said, his hand drifting downward until he was stroking Magnus’ hair again. They lapsed into silence, it was nice, with just the fire crackling, it had Magnus lightly dozing.  
“Have you ever tried to break the curse?” The question was so quiet that Magnus wasn’t entirely sure he’d heard right. It took looking up at Alec to confirm that he had actually asked. 

“Do you mean, have I ever fallen in love?” Magnus asked turning onto his back again, staring up at the ceiling. 

“Yeah” 

“There have been a few people over the years that I thought could fall. Etta was sweet and beautiful, but it just didn’t work between us. That was also a long while ago, when Clary’s mother was still working here. Imasu was talented and sexy, but it was always just physical between us. He was sort of a nomad, never would have stayed in one place. Then there was Camille, I really thought Camille was the one” Magnus sighed, folding his fingers over his stomach.

“What happened?” Alec asked, and Magnus couldn’t find anything but genuine curiosity. Camille had been jealous when he’d told her about Etta and Imasu, like Magnus hadn’t bothered to wait for her, a person that he’d had no idea was coming. Not that he and Alec were in a romantic relationship, the disaster tonight had proven that. 

“Camille was…she was…I don’t think there’s really any way to properly describe Camille. She was beautiful, dangerous and clever. I thought I was in love with her. There were a lot of things I didn’t realize about her until after she left. She loved to be the smartest person in the room. Camille loved to explain things to me, since being trapped, I couldn’t possibly know how the world worked anymore. She loved the finer things in life. Raphael was irritated that she kept taking things like fine jewelry. Sometimes I’d gift them to her, but other times she would simply take them and start wearing them. She and Raphael didn’t get along, that was what eventually ended it” Magnus’s fingers drummed steadily over his stomach. 

“Raphael told you to stop dating her?” Alec’s lips turned down in a frown and a little crease formed between his brows that Magnus wanted to reach up and smooth out. 

“No, he was rather silent about the whole thing. Sure, he expressed his dislike, but he told me I was free to make my own stupid decisions. Raphael knows about the curse, he knew how much I wanted to break it. It was Camille who came to me after a big fight with Raphael over a pair of earrings that she’d taken. She demanded that if I loved her, I would fire Raphael and make sure that he could never come back to the castle. I tried to reason with her, but she stuck firm on the ultimatum” 

“And you chose Raphael.” 

“I did. I don’t regret it. Raphael has stuck by me through a lot of things, has been there for some of my darkest moments. Even if he doesn’t like someone in my life, he lets me make my own decisions. I don’t know what I’d be without him” He’d had Jocelyn and her mother before Raphael, but both of them had always remained at a polite distance from Magnus. It wasn’t until Raphael that someone finally refused to let him keep that careful distance. After Raphael had come Clary, Simon and Maia. Suddenly his life wasn’t so empty, he had people to keep him steady. 

“He sounds like a good friend” Alec was smiling a little. 

“He’s a pain in my ass, but he’d say the same thing about me” Magnus chuckled low. His eyes slipped closed again, not of his own volition. 

“You should get some more rest” Alec murmured, his voice sounded fond, or maybe Magnus was imagining things now. 

“Did we discuss everything we needed to?”

“Not everything, but we’ve got plenty of time.” That hand was magic in Magnus’ hair, rubbing gently along his scalp. It took a few seconds for the words to register. 

“You’re staying?” Magnus asked, trying to open his eyes to look at Alec again, but that really wasn’t happening. 

“Until I figure out what I want, I’ll stay” Alec confirmed. 

Magnus doesn’t remember if he said anything else, he slipped into sleep before he knew it. 

The next morning the two of them woke to bright white light. 

Overnight, the cold outside had finally turned to winter. The world outside was covered in a white blanket, at least a few inches deep. It felt like a sign, wiping the slate clean. Stripping away the dark and serious turn of last night and replacing it with something else. 

It was replaced with fun, if Simon was to be believed. Given that he burst into the sitting room with snow settling into his curls, cheeks flushed, and the widest grin on his lips. His entrance startled both Magnus and Alec into wakefulness. 

Magnus sat up so quickly his head spun for a moment and he had to pause to press his hand to his head. The coolness of his rings was something of a blessing. Though, he really should have taken them off before he went to sleep. At least he couldn’t tell the difference between the aches from magic overuse and stepping out of the boundaries from the ones he may have gotten from sleeping on the couch. Judging from the way Alec was rubbing the back of his neck and arching his back, he certainly hadn’t been spared. 

Both of them turned rather impressive glares at the intruder. 

Simon must have developed some sort of resistance to both of their glares because he simply continued smiling at them, though he held up his hands in defense. 

“Hey, hey, don’t shoot the messenger. Maia told me to come up and let you guys know that breakfast is ready. Also have you seen the snow? I can’t believe it snowed that much last night!” Simon was nearly bouncing with excitement, rolling up onto his toes as he peered past them toward the large windows. 

“I do have eyes, Sanders, thank you” Magnus sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He was pleased to see Alec laugh out of the corner of his eye.

“Maia has declared it rematch day. There’s enough snow if we push some of it around, and it’s definitely wet enough to stick” Simon said gleefully, reaching up to brush some of the snow out of his dark curls. 

“Don’t get snow on the floors” Was what Magnus said at the same time that Alec asked, “Rematch day?”

“Right! You wouldn’t know. Every year on the first snow, as long as there’s enough snow, we go out and have a snowball fight. Last year Clary and I won, due to a particularly brilliant sneak attack by yours truly. Maia has been waiting for a rematch. She usually wins no matter what team she’s on” Simon grinned. 

Magnus sighed, leaning back on the couch. “As much as I’d like to give Maia her revenge, I don’t think I’m going to be up for a snowball fight today” His body still ached. It was better than last night, but there was no way he was about to go running about in the snow throwing little projectiles of crystalized water. 

“Oh, Maia knows. She told me to tell you that she accepts Alec as your replacement. She also says that you get to be the referee, since we’ve needed one for years and Raphael is a really terrible one” Simon tucks his hands behind his back. 

“It seems I’ve been replaced. Well at least this year I won’t end up with snow down my back. Are you alright with that, Alexander?” Magnus turns to find Alec looking amused. 

“I can do it, won’t be my first snowball fight” Alec was smiling, leaning back into the corner of the couch, “Why does Raphael make such a terrible referee?”

“Because he doesn’t actually referee anything, and he also tends to be biased towards Simon. Though we can never tell if it’s for or against him” Magnus sighed. 

Simon rocked forward on his toes again, “I’m going to go back downstairs. You guys should probably get ready and get down there before Maia comes to drag you down.” Then he disappeared through the open door. 

Magnus watched Alec stand, stretching his arms over his head in a way that Magnus was very appreciative of. Alec wandered over to the large windows, staring out with such a look of wonder that made Magnus push off from the couch and follow after him, ignoring the ache in his bones. The view outside the window was gorgeous. As much as Magnus hated knowing this place was a prison, he knew it was a lovely one. The snow made everything clean and white, shining and sparkling underneath the morning sun. 

“It’s beautiful” Alec breathed beside him. 

“You act like you’ve never seen snow before Alexander” Magnus laughed, and found himself watching the man beside him more than the view outside. 

“I have, but not like this. Snow doesn’t stay this nice in the city. Within a couple hours it’s slush, or it’s been trampled down. Out here it looks…perfect” His fingers touch the glass almost reverently, leaving an imprint of his hand as the glass fogged up around it. 

“You’re going to see it up close and personal soon. We better go get ready before Maia actually does come up to get us. She takes her snowball fights very seriously” Magnus winked, and was pleased to see Alec look a little flustered. Not completely over his attraction then. But he wasn’t going to be doing much more than that. The last time he’d tried to push the subject Alec had nearly left. He wasn’t ready to accept it yet, and Magnus could respect that. He’d let Alec decide when he was ready, if he ever was. 

After all, Magnus had already gotten one victory. Alec was staying here, and not because of a necklace around his neck or a sense of duty. He was staying because he wanted to, or at the very least he felt comfortable staying here while he figured out exactly what it was that he wanted to do. Magnus could admit, however, it was less his victory and more Alec’s, for making his own decisions and actually trying to think about what would make him happy.

They both made it down to breakfast before Maia had to drag them there, and for once the rest of the group joined them. Though everyone was very careful not to talk tactic at the table. There was, however, an unspoken question in the air. Magnus could tell that Alec was pretty clueless about it, but Clary and Simon both kept glancing at him, and he saw the way their eyes settled between Alec’s collar bones where the ruby was very clearly missing. It was Clary that finally broke down and asked if Alec was staying at the manor. It was rather adorable to watch the dawning understanding cross his face, before he was answering in the affirmative and making smiles appear all around the table. 

In a very short span of time, Magnus found himself bundled up in a blanket and sitting in a chair that they’d dragged out into the snow. Maia had shoved a cup of tea into his hands before making her way over to Alec who was in the process of starting their snow barricade. He thought he could already hear Maia complaining about Alec’s height, and the amount of snow they’d need to cover him. She said the same thing to Magnus every year. 

It was clear that Clary and Simon were going to have the advantage going into this. That much was obvious just watching the two teams work. Alec and Maia were working around each other and there was a steady stream of conversation as they tried to figure out tactics and the best way to build up their snow shield. Meanwhile, Clary and Simon barely spoke at all. They knew each other well enough that they could just get everything done they needed to before the match started. 

Magnus sipped at the tea, both hands clasped around the warm cup. It was going to be the first year that he’d sit out of this, it almost made him sad. But he didn’t feel like he was being left behind. Every now and then he’d get a question tossed his way, either pertaining to nonexistent rules, or a want of his opinion or advice. Which he really shouldn’t be giving as an impartial judge, but did anyway. Besides, it was going to be interesting to see this from an outsider’s perspective. Raphael always said they were a bunch of idiots, but Magnus could tell he was amused every time.  
In the end, it was Maia and Alec that came out victorious. 

It was a close match. Simon and Clary definitely had them beat in sheer teamwork, an effortless assembly line of snowballs and throwing. But faced with Maia’s hard-hitting throws and Alec’s ridiculously accurate ones, they eventually crumbled. Maia also made a particularly impressive move by diving out of their barricade and firing as she went. It helped that Alec was covering her from behind, long range shots to keep Clary and Simon on their toes. By the end of it, everyone but Magnus was covered in snow from head to toe, flushed, and grinning like maniacs. Magnus had finished his tea a while ago and mostly just sat watching them with an amused smile. Occasionally he’d play referee, giving penalties for head shots, or quick time outs for anyone who slid on the snowy ground. 

All of them were still smiling as they trudged toward the house, very ready to be out of wet cold clothes. Magnus wrapped the blanket more fully around his shoulders and got up out of the chair. He was about to pick up the chair to carry back to the manor when a voice interrupted him. 

“Wait, hey no, I can grab it!” Magnus glanced back to find Alec trudging through the snow toward him. 

“Alexander, I’m perfectly capable of-” Magnus was cut off by Alec slipping on the cold packed ground, he’d tried to pick up his pace and lost his footing. Luckily, he was close enough that Magnus could reach out and snag him by the arm tugging the man forcibly toward him to keep Alec upright. It also meant that they were mere inches away from each other when Alec finally found his footing. Magnus smirked, “Falling for me already?”

As he hoped it might, Alec cracked, his face broke into a grin and his shoulders shook with laughter, “That was so bad.” 

“Was it? I thought it fit perfectly” Magnus grinned teasingly, smoothing out Alec’s jacket where he had gripped it. 

Alec just shook his head, and before Magnus could say another word, he’d ducked past him and picked up the back of the chair, carrying it toward the house. 

“I like him” Magnus turned around to find Maia standing behind him, rubbing her hands together to try and warm them. 

“You didn’t before?” Magnus raised a brow, unfurling the blanket from around his shoulders and wrapping it around hers. 

“No, I wouldn’t have let him on my team if I didn’t. But I didn’t think I would, at first” Maia looked like she wanted to protest being given the blanket, but finally just sighed and pulled it closer.  
“Why?” Magnus asked, even though he could probably answer that himself. It had been very clear that he hadn’t exactly liked Alec in the beginning either. 

“He just had this whole uptight thing going on. I thought he was kind of an asshole at first, didn’t want to talk to any of us longer than a minute” Maia shrugged. A breeze swept by and ruffled her dark curls. “But, I gave him a chance, since I also wasn’t incredibly happy with you” She reached out to lightly punch Magnus’ shoulder. 

“I know, I know. You very vocally disapproved of that particular decision” Magnus listed slightly to the side with the punch, laughing softly. 

“Anyway, as I was trying to say, once you get to know him he’s actually a pretty good guy. So if the two of you want to make heart eyes at each other, I won’t stop you” She grinned at him.  
“Maia, I don’t know if we’re going to get there. Alexander has already very obviously denied that once” Magnus pointed out as they stepped through the doors and back into the warmth. From the distant noise, he guessed that everyone else had run off to change clothes before they reconvened in the kitchen. 

“Someone better tell him that then, because he still looks at you like you’re the best, but strangest, person he’s ever met” Maia grinned, and reached down to dig into her pocket, “Give it a chance okay? Even if it takes some time. Maybe it won’t, maybe he’s closer to being ready than you think” She dropped the ruby into his palm before backing up and heading in the direction of her room. 

Magnus just looked down at the gemstone pendant in his palm, the one that he’d given Alec’s sister. It had been the one he’d gifted Camille once upon a time, when he’d thought that she’d been the one. Now it still held some of the same emotions he’d felt when Camille had left, anger, lonely, grief, but some of that feeling had been overwritten by memories of Alec tucking it beneath the collar of his shirt, of him gripping it while he was thinking, seeing the chain at the back of his neck when he was bent over a book. Still, if he was going to give Alec another charm, it would be something different. 

Something more Alec. 

It was something to think about. 

Magnus slid the piece of jewelry into his pocket and wandered toward the kitchen. Everyone would be wandering down shortly and he could at least put the kettle on. 

The rest of the evening was nice, everyone seemed more relaxed and happier. There was just something about the snow and being able to take your aggression out in snowball form that made a group of people more at ease. They all ate dinner together that night, eschewing the formal dining room in favor of camping out in front of the fireplace in the sitting room. It was a nice night, and it transitioned into a nice week. 

Magnus spent a lot of it working, his impromptu venture out of bounds had meant that he’d gotten off track in putting together everything he’d need when Raphael eventually came back. You couldn’t exactly put together spells and potions when you were out of magic. So, after a day of resting, he spent most of his time in the library. 

To Magnus’ pleasant surprise, Alec did too. They didn’t talk much when he was there, sometimes Magnus didn’t even realize that Alec was there until he turned around and found him sprawled out on the library couch, book held aloft over his head. It was pleasant company, just listening to Alec turning pages behind him. 

Over dinner on the third evening of their shared library days, Alec casually mentioned that he wouldn’t mind helping out if Magnus needed anything. The warlock had waved off the suggestion, but he’d felt the way Alec’s eyes followed him. That may be for other reasons, but it happened most often when Magnus spent a long time searching for the books he needed, or he wandered out of the room because he needed this or that from the kitchen, or he’d forgotten to get a particular plant from the garden. This wasn’t the first day they’d met in the library where Alec had no idea what he was doing. 

The next time Magnus needed a certain set of books, he made a list, and asked Alec if he would mind searching for them while he worked on a potion. The answering smile that bloomed across Alec’s face made it worth it. 

It was almost strange, how after all the dramatics and the tension everything settled into something almost resembling normal. Of course, life with the fantastical Magnus Bane wasn’t ever going to be normal, but it was the closest that Magnus had gotten in a while. Really, the only thing missing from this picture was Raphael and he was due back in a matter of days. The dinners between Alec and him were going smoothly, no more dramatic exits or accusations. They’d even taken one night to eat in the kitchen with Maia after Alec had asked if he’d always dined alone. 

Of course, the moment that Magnus started to luxuriate and indulge in that sense of normal would be the moment that something changed. At least this time it was something that he couldn’t bring himself to be upset over. In fact, this was a change that he welcomed. 

It was two weeks after the incident that found Magnus and Alec settled in the library. There was a potion brewing on his worktable but it wouldn’t be done for another hour and Magnus had decided that meant a well-deserved break for the both of them. Of course, Alec hadn’t listened to him and was still stubbornly working his way through finding the books on a long list that Magnus had given him. Rather than settle in and watch Alec run about his library like a busy bee, he had stolen back the bottom half of the list and was working his way through it. It was a slow process, even Magnus was willing to admit he should have better organization tactics for his books. 

“I lied” Alec’s voice made Magnus pause in reaching for a book, glancing back over his shoulder. The man had just set a stack of books on the table and was running his long fingers over the globe that Magnus may have gotten just purely because every good library needed one. 

“Well now, that sounds ominous and a bit dramatic. I must be rubbing off on you. What did you lie about?” Magnus was trying to keep his voice neutral, open. His immediate instinct at hearing Alec lied was to tense up, to demand what he’d lied about. But the part of him that now felt like it knew Alec eased him down to a tentative wariness. 

“That I hadn’t ever thought about what I wanted to do other than be a lawyer” Alec’s fingers danced across the surface of the globe. 

“You said you wanted to join the guard” Magnus reminded, finishing his motion to pull the book he needed from the shelf. Alec’s words had eased the small worry at the back of his head. 

“Yeah, but I lied when I said the reason I wanted to join was Jace” Alec looked up when Magnus set the books in his hands on the table. 

“Why did you want to join then, Alexander?” Magnus was curious now, he’d just accepted that Alec would do most anything from his siblings, so the idea that he’d wanted to join the guards to keep an eye on a reckless sibling wasn’t an improbable thought.

“I was hoping that I could get assigned to one of the diplomatic divisions. The units that escort diplomats out of Idris and keep them safe on foreign land.”

“You wanted to travel” Magnus smiled, he’d suspected that was something Alec was interested in. From the first time Alec had admitted that he’d probably never leave Idris, to the way he’d listened intently to every story Magnus told. It had been nice actually, to have such an attentive audience. Even if Alec rolled his eyes at some of the more ridiculous and embellished ones, he didn’t interrupt or ever complain that Magnus was rambling. 

“I did. As a kid, and now too, I read all these stories about people in other places. Far off lands where everything was so different from what I knew. These places sounded beautiful, and sometimes dangerous, but I wanted to experience them, to see everything with my own eyes. The rest of the world just sounds amazing, and I’ve only seen a small portion of it” Alec sighed, flicking his wrist to send the globe spinning. 

“You could do that now Alexander, there’s nothing stopping you. I’m not holding you here, and you said you’ve already jeopardized your chances of becoming a lawyer. Maybe you should take the chance and pursue your dream.” Magnus cocked his hip against the table. 

“I wouldn’t even know where to start. How will I know where to go?” He shook his head, but Alec was smiling too. 

“Well, if I ever manage to get out of here, I’d love to take you to all my favorite places, but until then I could put you in touch with Ragnor, he’ll complain about it but- Alexander?” 

While he’d been talking Alec had taken a step in, closing the distance between them with one long stride. He was staring intently at Magnus, eyes searching his face. For a long moment they merely stood there, scant inches away from each other.

“Can I kiss you?” 

The words from Alec’s lips stole Magnus’ breath away so it took a minute before he could voice a simple ‘yes’ to his request. 

Intense hazel eyes met his again before they were slipping closed and lips were brushing across his. It was shy, hesitant. Or at least Magnus thought it was before Alec’s warm palm reached up to cup his cheek and suddenly the hesitation disappeared. Something like electricity snapped down his spine as their lips met more firmly, moving against one another eagerly. Magnus’ hands slipped around Alec’s waist, tugging him in even closer. 

It was every instance of tension they’d had slowly unraveling. The resolution to all the moments where they might have kissed, to the looks that neither of them had acknowledged. It felt like going back to their first meeting in the library and finishing that first close moment with a kiss. Only, this was better. There wasn’t anything else holding them back this time. Magnus was no longer Alec’s warden, and Alec had been the one to make the first move. 

It wasn’t a perfect kiss, both of them had laughed softly when they’d both gone to change the angle and their noses knocked together. But it felt like more, and that was what made it perfect to Magnus. 

Eventually, they broke apart, both of them too breathless to continue. Magnus had a smile on his lips that he knew must match the one on Alec’s, soft and satisfied. 

“Are you sure, Alexander?” Magnus asked softly, one of his hands smoothing down his shoulder, down his arm until he could link their fingers together. 

“I’m sure. I don’t want to keep denying myself because of what I’ve been told I should be doing” Alec murmured, squeezing Magnus hand. 

“Good” Magnus leaned forward to brush his lips over Alec’s again.  
“That’s…I don’t know about breaking the curse, but I want to try, with you, to explore this” Alec was starting to look flustered and as adorable as Magnus found that, he also didn’t want him getting worked up about this. 

“We’ll take it slowly, we won’t make any promises about where this is going to go” Magnus assured, thumb running over the back of Alec’s hand. 

“I can do that” Alec was smiling again. 

Magnus got to taste that smile mere seconds later when their lips met again. He wasn’t even that irritated that he had to redo his potion later because he was too distracted to bother checking on it.


	7. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is probably the chapter I'm most unsure about. Thank you all for waiting for it!  
> There's only one chapter after this and then a short little epilogue, so we're coming to the end!  
> The next chapter won't take nearly as long to post because either I already have it written and only have the epilogue to finish up.   
> But for those of you reading my other fic, another chapter of Uploaded will be up before then, probably on Halloween.

The kissing was new, and Alec wanted it never to stop. 

Stemming from that first time in the library. Alec hadn’t really known what he was doing, but he’d needed to kiss Magnus. Because he was gorgeous and kind and Alec had also just had a realization.   
Magnus was the first person in his life that didn’t expect anything from him. Maybe before the dinner there had been some expectation, hopes that he could break the curse. But then he’d offered to put him in contact with a friend and send him across the world. Even his siblings had some expectations for him as an older brother, to solve their problems and take care of them when they needed him. But with Magnus, he didn’t have to be anyone, he could just be _Alec_. Staying at the manor was all about figuring out what he wanted to do with his life. And at that moment, Alec had really wanted to kiss the stunning man in front of him. 

It was also amazing that Magnus never pressured him into anything more. But the kissing continued. Casual brushes of lips when they were both busy in the library, Magnus passing by the couch that Alec was reading on and just leaning over. More in-depth kisses when Alec would catch Magnus’ hand and pull him into an alcove. A slow kiss on the rare morning that Alec actually woke up early enough to catch Magnus on the balcony again. A foot hooked around his ankle and a blown kiss over dinner. 

Alec had never allowed himself to wish for something like this. It had just been something that he’d never assumed he would have in his life. He’d only seen the path in front of him, the one that led to a successful career as a lawyer and possibly a Politician, with a wife that his parents approved of and eventually maybe some kids. It had always been in his head like some sort of children’s fairytale, with cheerful, perfect, painted figures on every page. A story that he would tell himself every time that he had an urge to go outside the perfect gilded pages. 

But Magnus, he was an entirely different sort of book. If he even was a book at all, Magnus seemed to be more than would fit between something like pages. So full of life and magic.  
It was fair to say that Alec was floating. Reality felt like a faraway here. The manor felt like a dream, no responsibility, some very good friends, a ridiculously attractive guy that he was now allowed to _kiss_. The only thing really missing was his siblings. 

Leave it to Raphael Santiago to provide a dose of reality. 

Alec had been outside, they had a warm streak of weather after the first snowfall and he wanted to get in a few shots before it got unbearable. It was encouraging that Magnus also seemed to find his archery attractive. He’d been out here for a while earlier, wrapped up to his neck. Alec had heard some vague grumbling about having to get work done before he’d heard the door open and close. He’d been in a zone, and he’d set the target father away this time, challenging himself. 

Which was probably why he startled so badly when he suddenly saw someone out of the corner of his eye. He had to clutch the bowstring hard to keep himself from instinctively releasing the arrow.   
The door hadn’t even alerted him to someone coming out, so either this guy was naturally dead quiet or he purposefully hadn’t wanted to let Alec know he was there. 

Lowering his bow, Alec turned to look at the man properly. He was stylish, but in a completely different way from Magnus. Where Magnus chose to be stylish in excess, with a lot of jewelry and beautiful details on his clothing that just begged to be noticed, and pops of color, Alec couldn’t think of a word that suited this man more than _sleek_. He was dressed all in black, with just the hint of a red thread around the collar of his jacket. It was a little intimidating, and it was probably meant to be. 

“So, you’re the former prisoner” It’s not a question, more like an observation, that is accompanied by the raise of an eyebrow. 

“And you are?” Alec’s fingers tighten on the bow. 

“Raphael Santiago” Dark eyes bore into his from the elevated position Raphael has. 

“You’re Raphael?” Alec is a little dumbstruck. When Magnus had described Raphael, it was always someone who had been around forever, who had been there for Magnus through some of the worst moments. Not to mention he’d been handling the money side of things for a while. Alec had been expecting someone older, possibly graying around the edges. 

“Surely Magnus has talked about me” He looked unimpressed, like Alec had just said something particularly stupid. 

“He has I just…wasn’t expecting you to be so…young” Alec said haltingly, trying to find the right words. 

“I started here young” It was said simply, and like it could have been accompanied with an eye roll, but he’d settled for staring at Alec instead. 

“Well it’s nice to meet you” Alec wondered if he should wander up and offer Raphael his hand, but since the other didn’t seem to be coming down and Alec was still holding a bow, he stayed where he was.

“I’m still deciding if it’s nice to meet you” Raphael certainly didn’t pull any punches. 

“Good to know” Alec definitely didn’t resist the eye roll. 

There’s quiet where neither of them speaks, so Alec uses it as an opportunity to wander over and start pulling his arrows from the target, since he’s probably not going to be getting much more shooting done with Raphael looking over his shoulder. He’s in the middle of pulling the last arrow out of the target when Raphael speaks up again.

“He likes you” Blunt. Alec wants to ask him to elaborate, but he doesn’t need him to, it would just be to try and rile him.

“I know.” 

“Do you?” His tone clearly implies that Alec doesn’t. 

“I do” Alec frowns, sliding the arrow back into the quiver. 

“Then you know you’re either going to have to get serious or you need to leave.” If Raphael’s face wasn’t neutral, Alec would have guessed he was angry. But for all he knew, he likely was. 

“Why?” Alec’s frown doesn’t leave. 

“The way I see it, you’re here to experiment. Living your life away from your responsibilities, finally getting the chance to kiss someone mommy and daddy wouldn’t approve of” Raphael’s voice had a hint of mocking, “But it’s more than that, for him. Even if he says it isn’t. The longer this drags on, the more he hurts when you leave.”

“I-” Alec loses the words he was going to say. Peripherally, this was something he’d known. He’d heard it in the way that Magnus had talked about all his past lovers. Even the night of the incident, he’d understood that a hurt had been part of Magnus’ actions. 

Magnus wasn’t expecting anything of Alec, in fact he probably expected Alec to leave. But Raphael shed light on the fact that even if that was true, it wouldn’t stop Magnus from hurting. Alec had only been looking at it from his perspective, his elation at being free to pursue his wants and desires for the first time in his life. It was selfish.

“You either need to decide to actually pursue whatever it is you two have, or you go before you leave more pieces for the rest of us to pick up” Raphael stare feels like it’s boring holes into Alec. 

“I…want to try” Alec finally says, and surprises even himself a little. But it’s true. While it would be easy to brush Magnus off as simply as finally giving in to long repressed feelings. He also liked Magnus. A lot. He liked the way he laughed, and the way he was so dedicated to his friends, the way his magic just seemed to be a part of him. There were so many things that Alec could put on that list. Even if their start hadn’t been the greatest, Magnus was still the most magical person he’d ever met. 

Raphael seemed to relax minutely, Alec would have missed it had he not been watching him, “Good. It just might be nice to meet you Alec Lightwood.” With that, he turned around and went back into the house. 

It felt like the strangest encounter that he’d had with anyone in the manor, and that was saying something because Simon existed. 

Alec had a lot to think about. 

With Raphael back, everyone stays for dinner. It’s…weird. At least it is for Alec. He’d gotten so used to the dynamic between the five of them. It wasn’t just the addition of a new person either, it was that the new person was Raphael. He was so hard to read. Alec spent half the meal just trying to figure out what the guy was thinking. Eventually, he thought he could read some of the markers, a tension in his jaw when he was annoyed, a slight curl to his lips when he was amused. Then it became slightly less unnerving. 

Still, it wasn’t hard to feel left out, clearly the others had known each other for a long time. While usually the others would take the time to include him, they were all eager to ask Raphael about his travels, which led to remembering stories that Alec hadn’t been around to experience. Sometimes someone would notice his confusion and explain briefly, but other times they just rolled from story to story and left Alec behind in the dust. It was Magnus that grounded him then, they’d sat next to each other with everyone else there. He’d brush a hand over the back of Alec’s, or catch his eye and wink at him. It eased that feeling like he didn’t belong. 

Even after the plates had been cleared away, everyone seemed to want to linger at the table, talking over half empty glasses of wine. Alec was already pushing away from the table, deciding to make his excuses and let everyone talk without having to remember to fill him in. 

He’d only just made it through the door when he heard Magnus doing the same, followed by a couple laughs. Alec kept walking, and wasn’t surprised when long fingers wrapped around his wrist.   
There was already a smile on his lips as he was tugged gently backwards and another smile was pressed to his. 

“Didn’t you want to stay and catch up with Raphael?” Alec laughs into the kiss, even as he clutches Magnus closer. 

Pulling back a little, Magnus’ smile is soft and pleased, like he hadn’t expected Alec to be worried about that, he runs his thumb along Alec’s cheekbone. “It’s fine, Raphael’s first stop when he gets back is always the library. He spent a long hour chewing me out about nearly killing myself going after you. Raphael may look tough, but he’s an overprotective mother hen underneath it all. ”

Alec wondered if it was something that Magnus had said this morning that made him seek Alec out after that, or had it always been the plan? Step one, update Magnus, step two intimidate? Of course, that had him remembering their conversation. 

Watching Magnus now, he felt more confident in what he’d said to Raphael earlier. Those magnetic cat eyes were lingering on his lips like he was waiting for the next moment he could lean in and capture them again, but his thumb was still lingering tenderly on his cheek and his hand had slipped from Alec’s wrist to intertwine their fingers. The desire to be close, physically and emotionally. 

“Will you go on a date with me?” Alec asked suddenly, which caused Magnus to draw back, surprised. 

“What?” Magnus’ lips parted like he wanted to say more but wasn’t sure what to vocalize. 

“Will you go on a date with me?” He asked, quieter, squeezing Magnus’ hand. 

“You want to go on a date with me?” Magnus asked instead, hand sliding down to Alec’s neck, his thumb now running along the underside of his jaw. 

“I like you Magnus. I want this, I want to see where this goes. Unless…that isn’t what you want?” Alec hadn’t considered that Magnus might not be on board with this idea. Now that he was his nerves had him shifting his weight. He wanted to make a quick escape if he was embarrassing himself. 

“No, no. But you can’t blame me for being skeptical. The last time I suggested we could be anything more you ran the other way. In a very literal way.” Magnus’ surprise had melted away into a teasing smile that Alec found infinitely more reassuring.

“I was scared. Now, well, I can’t say I’m not scared, but I know what I want and I’m not going to let my fear get in the way.” Alec leaned in so he could press a short, soft, kiss to Magnus’ lips. 

Magnus didn’t let him get away, the hand on his neck reeling him back in so they could kiss properly. Alec certainly wasn’t going to protest. It was an unhurried kiss, gentle, full of affection. Everything they wanted to say but couldn’t find the words for. 

They pulled apart when the kiss started to lead into territory that wasn’t appropriate for the middle of the hallway. Heavy breaths mingled between them as they pulled away only far enough to lean their foreheads together. 

Magnus laughed, “I don’t know if it escaped your notice Alexander, but we can’t exactly go out on a date in the traditional sense, going _out_ being the key word here.” 

Alec let the hand that wasn’t tangled in Magnus’ to trail down the sleeve of his shirt, playing with where it was cuffed at his elbow, “I have a plan for that. Your job is just to get dressed up and look amazing.”

“Well I don’t have a problem with that” Magnus grins, leaning back. 

“No, no you don’t” Alec gives Magnus a very deliberate once over, and feels almost giddy that he can do things like that now. 

“And when will this date be?” Magnus laughed again. 

“Tomorrow night?” Alec asked, he could have what he needed ready by then. 

“Eager. But tomorrow night sounds perfect” Magnus pulled farther away, stepping away from Alec though he kept their hands interlocked. “Come to bed with me?”

“Magnus, I don’t think I’m ready for-” Alec was silenced by Magnus putting a finger to his lips. 

“To sleep Alexander, nothing else. Maybe some cuddling. I just don’t want to let go of you yet.” Magnus lifts their combined hands to kiss the back of Alec’s. 

“Right” Alec mumbled, feeling his face heat. Instead of saying anything else, he just nodded. 

Pulling gently on his hand, Magnus led him up the stairs, down the winding hallways, and through the doorway to his room. 

While Magnus slipped away to clean off his makeup, Alec took the opportunity to look around. In his head, he’d been expecting something similar to his own room. It was, and it wasn’t. The room certainly had the same level of extravagance, but here it was more elegant, and well, more _Magnus_. Everything was a mix of golds and reds, from the silky looking bedspread to the walls. This room didn’t overwhelm like the other one had, didn’t scream its decadence but stated it more subtly. It made the room feel warm, comfortable. 

Alec caught the pair of sleep pants that Magnus threw in his direction. He hesitantly slid out of his pants, even though Magnus had his back to him, shedding his own clothes. His eyes trailed over the shifting muscles in Magnus’s shoulders, struck by how much he wanted to touch. To run his hands over that warm skin. Alec tugged on the sleep pants and made his way to the bed, carefully lifting the bedding away before slipping under. Magnus turned around with the sleep shirt buttoned halfway, and Alec watched his dexterous fingers fasten the rest as he wandered closer to the bed. 

All of it felt intimate, not necessarily in a sexual way either. Sure, Alec definitely felt something at seeing Magnus half naked. But this moment in particular, just watching Magnus take away his armor, clearly in a space he’d strived to make a sanctuary. Allowing Alec to be there like he belonged. Smiling at him softly while he slipped into bed beside him. 

“Hey” Alec murmured, twisting onto his side, head on the ridiculously soft pillow.

“Hello” Magnus smiled, mimicking Alec’s position. 

Reaching out, Alec gently captured Magnus’ hand in his. He still had all his rings on, though Alec guessed he’d probably take them off before he fell asleep. With fingertips, he traced the engraved ‘B’ on the largest ring. Hesitantly, lifting his eyes to check Magnus’ face to see if it was alright, he started slipping the rings from Magnus’ fingers and placing them in the palm of his other hand. When he finished with the first, Magnus shifted so that he could continue with the second. With the rings settled into his palm and Magnus’ hands looking bare, Alec twisted so he could set the rings on the bedside table. Then he was bringing both of his hands up, pressing his lips along the bones of his knuckles and fingers. 

Laying back down fully, Alec slid closer until he could put an arm around Magnus. Golden eyes watched him, Magnus seemed to have something else on his mind, but Alec didn’t want to rush it. So, he settled into this free moment to observe Magnus to his heart’s content, he looked just as lovely under the moonlight seeping in through the window as he had in the first light of dawn. 

“I’m afraid that you’ll leave” Magnus admitted softly, bringing Alec’s eyes back up to his. 

“Why?” Alec asked just as softly, tucking his hand beneath his cheek. 

“Because there are parts of me that are terrible. Ugly sides of me that you’ve only seen the smallest part of. Everyone always leave” Magnus murmured, eyes leaving Alec’s. 

“Raphael, Clary and the others stayed” Alec pointed out softly. 

“Well, they’re not exactly in a romantic relationship with me. I also employ all of them” Magnus scoffed. 

“You know that’s not why they stay. They care about you” Alec ducked his head to try and catch Magnus’ eyes. 

“Maybe they do. But they’ve had years to get used to me, and they don’t know everything” Magnus’ voice was almost a whisper. 

Alec took a deep breath, fingers gently pressing into Magnus’ back, “So tell me everything and let me make my own decision. Don’t push me away because you’re afraid of what I’ll think.”

“It’s not that simple Alexander” Magnus frowned. 

Alec realized something, “You were pushing everyone away. Back then, before the curse. You didn’t let anyone in because you were afraid of what they’d see. Sure, you had Ragnor, he probably understood, but he couldn’t be around all the time. But everyone else…”

“I showed them the person they wanted” Magnus agreed, his fingers trailing along the warm arm Alec had wrapped around his waist. 

“The Seelie Queen was even more wrong, that’s not really selfish” Alec frowned. 

“I still didn’t care much about other people. I didn’t let myself care about other people, excluding maybe Ragnor” Magnus sighed, his fingers sliding up further to play with the hem of Alec’s sleeve. 

“Why?” It felt like a loaded question, and even Alec wasn’t sure what kind of answer he was looking for. 

Magnus went quiet for a long time and Alec was afraid he’d taken this too far. Maybe he should have just responded to Magnus’ fear with a simple assurance and they wouldn’t be here right now. They could have just had their date and worked their way slowly around to the hard stuff like this. But he also knows that there’s going to be very little that’s going to drive him away now. He knows Magnus. Maybe he doesn’t know absolutely everything, but he knows enough to know how much he likes him. 

Finally, Magnus’ breath hitches, “Warlocks are the child of a human mother and a demon father. The choice to have that child is usually taken away from the mother. When I was six and my power first began to manifest, my mother couldn’t live with herself, or live with what had been done to her. I found her dead by her own hand.”

“Magnus-” Alec whispered, taken aback, but he doesn’t move further away. 

“My stepfather blamed me for her suicide. He told me I was an abomination, he told me I was the reason she couldn’t bear to live in this world” There were tears in Magnus’ eyes and it made something inside Alec’s chest ache. “I killed him Alexander, I gathered all the magic I had and lashed out at him.”

“You were a child.” Alec murmured, hand sliding up Magnus’ back so he could cradle his cheek, thumb swiping at the tears there.

“I was in control, Alexander. I knew what I was doing. I’m capable of that kind of terrible, horrible monstrous act with my power at full strength.” Magnus pulled away from Alec’s hands, sitting up on the bed. 

Alec’s lips turned down, and he pushed up from the bed, reaching out hesitantly to curl his hand over the top of one of Magnus’, “You don’t…you don’t really think you deserved to have your powers taken away, do you?” He asked slowly. 

“At least I can be sure I won’t harm anyone” Magnus muttered with a bitter tone. 

“Magnus, you wouldn’t ever hurt anyone you cared about, not like that” Alec carefully brought his other hand up to cup the warlock’s jaw. 

“I already did” Magnus’ eyes rose to meet Alec’s finally. 

“I don’t know what your relationship was like with your stepfather, but anyone who would call you an abomination and blame you for something you had no say in doesn’t sound like they cared about you” Alec murmured, stroking his fingers over the back of Magnus’ hand. “I trust you. I would trust you not to hurt me, even if you had your powers. You care Magnus. Even if you had control over your powers then, you have better control over your emotions now.” 

“Is that what you call threatening your sister and imprisoning you?” Magnus snapped, jaw tensing under Alec’s hand. 

“Yeah, that wasn’t your greatest moment. But you didn’t know either of us. And you didn’t hurt her then, you could have” Alec pointed out, leaning closer. 

“It’s still part of the ugly side of me” Magnus shook his head, but his eyes met Alec’s again. 

“There’s nothing ugly about you” Alec assured, leaning forward again so that he could press their foreheads together, “You have a temper, so do I. That’s normal. You’re beautiful Magnus. You’re kind, generous, and one of the most brilliant people I know. You love your friends. You’ve been patient with me, you saved my life even after I ran out on you. That’s not someone who would ever hurt someone they care about on purpose.” 

“Alexander” It was said softly, full of emotion, and Magnus’s arms were wrapping around him, his head shifting to rest on Alec’s shoulder. 

“I’m not leaving” Alec murmured into his ear. 

They stayed like that for a while, clutching each other. Until both of their backs ached from sitting like that. Alec just concentrated on Magnus’ breathing, the soft in and out against his ear. Trying to will the emotion he was feeling into the limbs that were wrapped around the warlock. Magnus had spent so long pushing everyone away, not letting anyone know what he was feeling. Someone like Raphael probably suspected what was going on, but he probably couldn’t confront Magnus about it. Though he didn’t seem the type to hold anything back. Likely he knew Magnus wouldn’t believe him. Alec wasn’t even entirely sure Magnus believed him. 

Alec heard Magnus take a deep breath in before he spoke, “So, tell me about this date you have planned.” Magnus’ voice was trying at being teasing, but Alec would gladly take the change in subject to something lighter. 

“It’s a surprise” Alec smiled, tucking his face so he could press a kiss to the side of Magnus’ neck. 

“You tease” Magnus laughed softly, unwrapping himself from Alec so the two of them could lay down again. 

Once they were settled in, Alec asked about one of the stories that hadn’t been explained at the table, and that had Magnus launching into a long drawn out story. It was probably elaborated on more than he usually would, but that felt like it was for both of their benefit. Either way, it kept them both talking and laughing until eventually they drifted off side by side, with Alec’s hand resting on Magnus’ between them.

Waking up next to Magnus was something that Alec could very easily get used to. Magnus’ room got far more sunlight than Alec’s did, and it drifted lazily into the room. It reminded Alec of morning’s out on the balcony, though this was infinitely preferable because he was warm under the covers and not freezing. Plus, now he had the knowledge that he could just reach out and touch. Alec wanted to keep laying there longer, spend the morning waiting for Magnus to wake up. 

But he had a lot to get done by tonight if he wanted his idea to work. So, he couldn’t just spend the morning in bed. 

The first task of the day was to hunt down Clary and see if she would help. Being honest, he didn’t even know where half the things he was going to need are. 

Thankfully, Clary was overjoyed to help. She also dragged Simon with her, which Alec had been banking on. 

The ballroom echoed when they stepped into it, and Alec’s nose already itched from how dusty it was. It took them a few minutes to figure out how to light up the space. They definitely had their work cut out for them, but Alec wanted this to be perfect. Especially after their conversation last night. Magnus spent so long thinking that no one should care for him, and Alec was going to spend the evening showing him that he did. Because nothing Magnus had said changed his mind. If anything, it just made him hurt for a younger Magnus. 

Also, it fueled his anger for the Seelie Queen. If not for this curse, Magnus might have healed earlier. He was already plenty old by the time she cursed him, yes, but obviously having his powers taken away and being trapped here hadn’t helped. Alec could imagine that every angry outburst that came because of his imprisonment suddenly became a reason why he _should_ be imprisoned to Magnus. Rather than an incredibly normal response to being trapped. Then he was left alone for so long. It wasn’t healthy, and clearly it hadn’t done anything good. 

Simon was running around with a giant broom, sweeping up the floors. Alec had very carefully reeled down the chandeliers and Clary was sitting on the floor with a rag cleaning it up. With a rag, Alec was wiping down the grand piano. They wouldn’t have time to get it tuned, but at least it would look good. The doors to the balcony were pushed open. It was cold, but with the sweat all three of them were working up, it felt good. 

They took a break for lunch, but then they were back, Simon mopping the floors and Clary very carefully dusting around the paintings and over the walls. Alec got Maia to help carry a table up there to set up for dinner. When the hour got late enough, Clary and Simon pushed Alec out the door, insisting he go up and get ready. 

When he got back down, the two of them were nowhere to be seen, but Maia had clearly been up there, the table was set. Alec couldn’t help but fiddle with his bowtie, he felt overdressed, but even he had to admit that the blue suit jacket he was wearing looked nice. The nerves that hadn’t been present for most of the day were now coming on with full force. He’d never even been on a real date, he had no idea how this was supposed to work. This whole idea had just been a product of reading and fantasy. 

Thankfully, that was when Magnus walked through the doors and promptly stopped most of Alec’s thoughts. 

Well, he kept one, ‘ _He’s beautiful_ ’.

The black jacket Magnus was wearing had swirling gold embroidery all over, which matched the beautiful shimmering gold waistcoat. The black pants he was wearing were perfectly tailored and the shoes had beautiful gold accents. There were even a few gold streaks in his hair. 

“You’re gorgeous” Alec didn’t mean to sound that breathless, but it was entirely worth it for the smile that lit up Magnus’ face. 

Striding over to Alec, he slid his fingers along the lapels of Alec’s jacket, “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

“I had to attempt to match you” Alec laughed, his fingers trailing along some of the embroidery on the jacket.

After pressing a quick kiss to Alec’s lips, Magnus took a few steps back to really look at the room. “So, this was your date plan? I’m impressed, Alexander, this is pretty romantic.” He looked over his shoulder to wink. 

“I have a few more surprises, but dinner first” Alec pulled out a chair for Magnus. 

Dinner was the part that Alec wasn’t nervous about. That, he knew. They had dinner together almost every night. It was easy to fall back onto comfortable topics and into an easy rhythm of conversation. It made it easier to believe that this could work. They were already there. Spending time together wasn’t an issue for them anymore. There was more flirting, and Alec definitely spent a good portion of the dinner just staring at Magnus. They share dessert, with Magnus coming closer just to make Alec blush by offering to feed him a bite. 

When they both set their utensils down, Magnus raised his brow and Alec knew he was asking ‘what next?’ Now this, this was the part he was nervous about. Making his way over to the grand piano, he very carefully pulled out the record player that he’d strategically hidden behind it. He’d found it in another room during his early explorations and had carried it to the ballroom when they were cleaning earlier. Alec just had to hope that he still remembered something from those classes he’d taken with Izzy. 

“Dancing?” Magnus looked delighted, and Alec decided it didn’t matter if he remembered the steps or not, just seeing Magnus light up like that was worth it. 

“Uh yeah, I took a few classes with my sister a while ago” Alec reached up to rub at the back of his neck, trying to avoid his hair. He’d managed to get it into a somewhat decent style. 

“It’s been a while, but I was a pretty fantastic dancer” Magnus grinned, watching Alec crank the record player and place the needle on the disc. 

The music was slow, classical strings. Magnus held out his hand and Alec took a step closer as he clasped it. Another hand positioned at Alec’s waist, so Alec placed his on Magnus’ shoulder. 

It wasn’t perfect, the first few steps were stumbling, mostly on Alec’s part. He hadn’t followed before, and it took him a few tries to get the steps backwards. But Magnus was a patient teacher, and Alec found him a lot easier to listen to than the instructor that he and Izzy had. Even after he got the steps right, it took a while for Alec to stop looking at his feet. They were just getting the hang of dancing together when they had to stop to reset the record. 

But Alec didn’t think he’d ever smiled this much. When they finally did get going, they were twirling around the room, holding each other close. Alec still stumbled, and stepped on Magnus’ toes a few times, but Magnus didn’t let him get too flustered, just laughed softly and corrected. The record ran to the end a second time, but neither of them bothered to reset it that time. They just slowed until they were essentially just swaying to music that was still lingering in their heads. 

Magnus stopped them, and leaned in so he could kiss Alec. “Thank you, for this.”

“Thank you for waiting until I was ready” Alec murmured, releasing Magnus’ hand so he could wrap his arms around Magnus’ shoulders. 

“I wasn’t sure you ever would be” Magnus admitted, hands settling at the small of Alec’s back. 

“Well, I had the perfect reason to try” Alec grinned, leaning down to kiss Magnus again. 

“I may have done something rather irrational to get you here Alexander, but I’m very glad I got the chance to meet you” He murmured against Alec’s lips, tugging him closer. 

“Good, because I feel the same way” Alec laughed. 

That day felt so far away, when he’d been so angry and lost, first arriving at the manor. He still didn’t agree with the decision Magnus had made, but he could forgive it. Because he wasn’t the same man that he’d been when he first arrived. The one who’d been so concerned about what everyone else thought, about what his parents thought. The man who was so determined to do the ‘right thing’ and make himself unhappy in the process. There were things that stayed the same, but he couldn’t help but think that he was better for having met Magnus Bane and everyone else here. 

Alec had never met anyone else like Magnus, had never felt what he felt for Magnus for anyone else. He doubted he could travel the world and find anyone else like him. But he wouldn’t want to travel without Magnus anyway. He wanted to experience everything with him, to hear his opinions, his likes, his dislikes. Alec wanted to wake up beside him every morning, and kiss him every night. It was an all-encompassing feeling, and almost terrifying. He had an idea of what it was. 

Opening his mouth, Alec didn’t get the chance to say anything. Because at that moment, the doors of the ballroom were pushed open hard enough to bang on the walls.   
Clary stumbled into the room, and hot on her heels were Jace and Isabelle. 

“Alec!” Izzy was the first to reach him after he’d stepped away from Magnus, throwing her arms around his neck. 

“What’s going on?” Alec was so confused, but he wrapped his arms around his sister anyway. He’d probably missed Izzy the most, he loved Jace, he really did, but Isabelle had always been the one he’d gone to. They confided in each other, and Isabelle had always disapproved of Alec’s decision to do everything their parents wanted. 

“It’s Max” Jace’s said solemnly where he was standing with Izzy. 

“It’s not good Alec. He can’t walk at all, and his breathing is getting weaker. Dr. Loss is trying, but it’s clear nothing is working” Izzy settles her head on Alec’s shoulder, and Alec runs a hand down her hair. 

“I…thought the plant…” Alec couldn’t comprehend what he was hearing. It had only been a few months, surely Max couldn’t have gotten that bad. 

“That was mostly just for pain, it was never going to heal him” Izzy is trying to keep her voice even as she finally steps back from Alec. 

“He’s asking for you, Alec” Jace said softly, his hands clenching at his side. 

Alec was at a loss for words. Everything just suddenly seemed turned upside down, the night had been going so well. He was finally starting to figure things out.

Magnus reached out to him then, pulling him until they were facing each other, his hands coming up to cup Alec’s face, “You should go.”

“I can’t, Magnus I said I wouldn’t leave” Alec splutters, because they’d just had this conversation. 

“I’m not heartless Alexander. Nor do I want you to resent me for keeping you from your brother” Magnus smiles sadly, dropping his hands from Alec’s cheeks to dig into the pockets of his suit.   
The first thing he presses into Alec’s palm is a small glass bottle that’s faintly glowing blue. “It’s for Max. I did a little bit of research on his condition, and this might help. I just finished it this afternoon, I had to wait for Raphael to come back with a few rarer ingredients.” He gently closed Alec’s fingers around it. Then he was holding something else out, a necklace dangling from his elegant fingers. A silver, arrow shaped charm was strung onto the chain, the tip of which was a trillion-cut emerald, “I was going to give this to you tonight, so that you can always come back to me if you want to.”

“Thank you” Alec could only manage a whisper, his throat felt tight. He ducked his head a little, and Magnus got the idea and unclasped the necklace so that he could put it on Alec. The stone and silver settled heavy on his chest. Alec ghosted his fingers over it, “I’m going to come back. I swear to you, I’m coming back to you Magnus” Leaning down, Alec pressed their lips together, clutching Magnus closer. 

It was Magnus who eventually pulled back and pushed Alec toward his siblings, “Go, Alexander, before it gets more difficult.”

Alec nodded, “I’ll see you again” he said instead of goodbye, turning toward the door and ignoring the confused looks of his siblings as he walked out the door. He needed to get to Max.


	8. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is long, and it has a lot in it. It's also the last chapter before the epilogue. I hope you all enjoy it! I really want to thank all of you for coming on this crazy journey and joining me on my foray back into writing fanfiction. I've appreciated every comment, kudos, subscription and bookmark. I also can't believe at one point I thought this was going to be 30k at most, now I'm staring at a word document that is over 45k.   
> The epilogue should be up soon!

It had been a week and Alec was feeling restless. 

Coming back had been a mad dash, riding through the fog at a break-neck speed. The cold wind whipped past them, turning their cheeks and noses red with the chill. Alec’s knuckles were white where they gripped the reins. The path through the forest didn’t seem as winding this time, no need to slow down and consider which direction they were going. The rush didn’t allow time for Alec to think about anything other than where they were going, about the little brother that was bedridden and had gotten worse. The potion Magnus had given him sat safely in one of the inner pockets of his jacket, one that rest over his heart. 

The three of them barely let their horses come to a stop in front of the house before their feet were touching the ground. Only a few lights still lit the windows of the house, Alec had expected a few more if their parents were home, it wasn’t that late. 

“They’re out, some social function” Izzy answered his unspoken question, reaching out to curl her fingers around Alec’s shoulder. 

“When Max is this sick?” Alec was incredulous, he’d knew how his parents cared about their careers, but that just seemed like they didn’t care. 

“People grieve in different ways, big brother. It hurts them to be here. They’re paying Catarina to stay with him” Izzy took Alec’s hand, leading him toward the house. 

“They’re his parents Iz, our parents, even if it hurts they should be here for Max” Alec protested quietly as they slipped into the house, with Jace right behind him. 

The look Izzy gave him spoke volumes, they both thought the same thing, but neither of them could really dictate their parent’s actions. 

At the very least, it was going to be easier to give Max the potion. Maryse and Robert had always been incredibly wary around anything said to contain magical properties. Warlocks were half demon after all, and messing with magic was going against nature. 

But magic could also be the one thing that could save his little brother’s life. 

When the three of them burst into Max’s room, Catarina nearly dropped the book she was holding. Alec watched her fumble to keep a hold of it and then she was staring at the three of them, particularly Alec. He doubted that his siblings had shared their plan of coming to get him. Actually, Alec had no idea what anyone in the town actually knew about him. Stopping and asking Izzy and Jace hadn’t been on the top of his priority list, though he would find out soon enough. 

“Alec? What are you…what is that?” Catarina was clearly trying to keep her voice quiet for Max’s sake, but her attention was drawn to the bottle that Alec was digging out of his pocket. The faint glow it put off left the room tinged blue. 

“It’s…I don’t know actually” Alec admitted, fingers curled around the bottle, “Someone I trust made it for Max.” 

Catarina held a hand out for the bottle, and Alec reluctantly handed it over. She turned it over in her hands, shaking the liquid inside the bottle. “It definitely has magical properties. Your warlock friend tell you what’s inside it?” She asked bringing it closer to her face to inspect it. 

To avoid pacing, Alec sat on the edge of Max’s bed. His little brother looked so frail lying there. It had only been a couple months since Alec had left, but his skin had lost so much color, he was thinner. He’d missed that, because he’d been gone. What if this didn’t work? He’d missed those months with Max, that was time he couldn’t get back. “No, he just said it was for Max. Wait, he said some of the ingredients were hard to find, but otherwise, no.” 

“Sounds like Magnus” Catarina sighed. She was smirking when Alec’s head popped up, surprised, “Story for another time. But I don’t see the harm in trying it, nothing else has been working.” 

Alec nodded, taking the bottle back when Catarina offered it back. She’d suggested once that they seek out some kind of magical remedy. But his parents had been the ones that insisted that a solution could be found without magic. It hadn’t been questioned much, magic was hard to come by anyway, it would have cost them money and time to search it out. 

“Max? Hey, I need you to wake up for me buddy” Alec murmured, reaching out to lightly shake Max’s shoulder. 

“Alec? You’re home?” The soft, raspy question was another arrow through Alec’s heart. There was excitement there, but exhaustion clearly overwhelmed every other emotion. Max hadn’t even really moved but to open his eyes. 

“Yeah, I’m home. I said I’d be back, didn’t I? I brought something for you, we think it’s going to make you feel better” Alec shifted so he could lean over his brother, reaching behind him so he could prop his pillows up and get him sitting up.

“Is it like the plant that Izzy brought? That made the pain go away” Max mumbled, raising one hand to rub at his eyes. 

“Kind of. My friend Magnus made it, he’s a warlock” Alec uncapped the bottle, and pressed it gently into Max’s hand. 

“Really?” Max’s eyes brightened at the mention of a warlock. Eyeing the glowing liquid, Max brought the bottle to his lips and very quickly downed it. A grimace that quickly crossed his face spoke to the flavor. 

“Really. I’ll tell you all about him later, right now you’re probably going to need your rest” Alec reached up to ruffle Max’s hair. Catarina was already leaning past him to help Max lay back down. 

“You’ll still be here tomorrow, right?” Max asked, nuzzling back into his pillow. 

“I’ll still be here tomorrow” He confirmed, bending over to press a kiss to Max’s forehead. 

It only took a few more seconds before Max was drifting back to sleep. Alec didn’t know whether it was the potion or the illness that had him falling asleep so quickly, but he hoped the potion was already working. But all he could do now was wait. 

A hand on his shoulder made him jump, but when he looked back it was only Izzy, who squeezed the skin comfortingly. 

“We should get some rest too Alec” She reminded softly. He could see Jace just past her, leaning in the doorway. They’d hung back, wanting Alec to get his moment with Max. 

“Right” Alec murmured, standing up slowly. Catarina had settled back into her chair and picked her book up. She gave Alec an assuring nod as he followed his sister out the door. 

As soon as they were outside of Max’s room, Izzy was hugging him again. Alec just buried his face in her hair and let himself indulge in it. Jace’s arms wrapped around the two of them. Something settled in Alec’s chest, it was a little bit of guilt, but mostly just relief that he was back with his siblings. He’d never been this long without one of them since they’d been born or adopted. The big brother in him wanted to sit both of them down and make them tell him everything that had happened in the last few months, but he didn’t feel much like talking either. Instead he just clung to his brother and sister. 

They were here, they were whole, that’s all Alec needed right now. 

“We missed you” Izzy mumbled into his chest. 

“I missed you too” Alec stroked his fingers along her back. 

“I shouldn’t have let you take my place” Izzy held on tighter, and Jace did too, as if in agreement. 

“Don’t say that. I think…I think it was actually good for me” Alec muttered, and quickly had to reel backwards to avoid Izzy’s head from knocking into his chin as she abruptly looked up at him. 

“So, I wasn’t seeing things when I saw that kiss?” Izzy’s voice was just on the edge of demanding. 

“You weren’t” Alec confirmed. 

“Is this like some sort of Stockholm Syndrome sort of thing?” Jace did actually sound demanding, golden brows furrowed. 

Alec couldn’t help but laugh, which had both Izzy and Jace watching him like he was crazy, “No, at least I don’t think so. I don’t worship him, and I definitely end up arguing with him half the time.” 

“You were his prisoner Alec” Jace reminded Alec pointing to the charm around Alec’s neck. 

“I…actually haven’t been, for a while” Alec admitted softly. 

“What?” It was Izzy who asked, staring up at her brother. 

“He let me go, almost right after Jace came.” Alec wanted to hide from the hurt looks both Izzy and Jace were sending his way. 

“You didn’t come home?” Izzy’s voice was nearly a whisper. 

“I…I should have” Alec’s shoulders slumped, “But that was the first time I’d ever felt free, Iz. Like I didn’t have to try so hard to be someone I’m not.”

“You didn’t think you could be yourself around us?” Jace asked, taking a step back. 

“No! No, not you. But Mom and Dad have always had this vision for who I’m going to be” Alec shook his head. 

“We would have supported you Alec” Izzy reached up to push hair out of Alec’s face. 

“I know. I know that. But I wasn’t even sure what I wanted, who I was. Magnus just…offered me the space to figure that out. I was going to come home eventually, once I made a decision.” Alec sighed. It had been something he’d been thinking about, especially when he’d decided to take a step further with Magnus. He’d wanted Izzy, Jace, and Max to meet him. 

“And have you? Made a decision?” Jace asked.

“I’m getting there.” Alec murmured.

“So what part does Magnus have in that decision?” Izzy raised her brows. 

“I’m gay” Alec blurted, “And he’s one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met, inside and out. I know I want him in my life.”

Izzy shook her head, frowning, “Sorry, it’s just really hard picturing you with the guy who threatened me.”

“He’s not perfect, and he knows that wasn’t his best moment. It’s complicated, but that’s not who he is, not entirely” Alec explained.

Izzy sighed, but reached up to hold Alec’s face gently, “I’ll believe you, but I’m going to have to meet him again. Have to make sure he’s good enough for my big brother.”

“Hell yeah, Izzy and I have been preparing our shovel talk for years” Jace grinned wide. 

Alec just sighed, knowing there would be no talking either of his siblings out of it. They’d just find a way to do it when he wasn’t looking. Besides, he’d be lying if he said he’d never purposefully intimidated someone Jace or Izzy was seeing. 

“Come on guys, we should get some rest. I have no idea what I’m going to say to Mom and Dad tomorrow. Don’t mention Magnus to them alright?” Alec sighed. They were definitely not going to understand. Not at all. 

“Got it, no mentioning the warlock boyfriend” Jace grinned, backing up toward his room, “See you tomorrow!” 

Alec and Izzy wandered upstairs together, their rooms had always been right across from each other. When Izzy was younger and had nightmares, she would come across the hall and crawl into Alec’s bed. 

She clasped his hand gently between hers, “I want you to know, disregarding anything else, I’m proud of you big brother. For finally doing what _you_ want for once. I love you Alec.” 

“I love you too” Alec smiled, leaning over to press a kiss to her head, “Goodnight Izzy.” He watched her slip into her room before he stepped into his. 

It was exactly how he’d left it. Alec was pretty sure that the same books were even open. He’d been a little afraid that coming home would mean he’d slip back into who he was before. That he’d go back to the man who would do anything to earn his family’s approval. But looking around his room, it no longer felt like him. Well, it did, but it didn’t. It wasn’t completely him anymore and on one hand that was comforting, and on the other it was unsettling. This was the life he’d known for almost all his life, now he didn’t fit here anymore. 

Alec went to bed thinking of Magnus and the rest of the people back at the mansion, but mostly Magnus. Had they cleared away the interrupted date? Was Magnus in bed now, like Alec was, thinking about how much he’d rather Alec was there? Or was he working late in the library? He fell asleep like that. 

The next day wasn’t actually as bad as he was fearing it would be. He’d expected his parents to be mad, but Maryse had immediately pulled him into a tight hug. His usually icy mother clung to him until Alec’s brain finally got with the program enough to wrap his arms around her in return. His father hadn’t nearly been so affectionate, offering him a more reserved pat on the shoulder. 

They didn’t look like they quite believed him when Alec explained that he hadn’t been imprisoned, but they could figure that out later. He wouldn’t tell them everything, but hopefully enough to convince them that he hadn’t escaped some kind of traumatic situation. 

That morning hadn’t been a great time though, because they had another distraction. Alec couldn’t even be mad about that, because Max came walking into the kitchen. 

It had worked, Magnus’ potion had worked. He wasn’t completely healed, not yet. Max explained that he still felt some pain, and got tired really easily, but anything compared to the harrowing sight of Max the previous night was enough to have Alec ecstatic. It took him seconds to have Max in his arms and swinging around the kitchen. Which had Izzy coming sleepily down the stairs and asking what they were up to, only to dash over to them the moment she saw Max. Jace stumbled out of his room at about the same time. 

How long had it been since Alec had this feeling? Like they were a real family? Because he felt it in that kitchen, with Max chattering happily in his arms, Izzy’s arms wrapped around the both of them, Jace sleepily slumped against his back, and their parents watching fondly by the kitchen table, Maryse even had tears in her eyes. 

Alec had only intended to stay a couple days. Two, maybe three if Max had needed him. Those first couple days were great, Max was regaining energy and begging Alec to take him everywhere and tell him stories. He was particularly interested in stories of Magnus, the warlock who had saved him. Alec was suddenly glad that Magnus had told him all those stories over dinner, because Max was insatiable. The best moment had to be when Max’s eyes went so wide when Alec told him that Magnus knew Ragnor Fell. The rapid-fire questions afterwards had to wait a few minutes to be answered because Alec was laughing so hard. After he’d gotten his breath back he assured Max that he’d be able to meet Magnus and ask those questions himself, or Magnus probably had a way he could reach Ragnor. 

Those first couple days were wonderful. He had missed being home, being with his siblings. He, Izzy and Jace spent a cold evening in front of the fire, catching up on each other’s lives. Izzy teased Jace about traveling the next town over to see Clary again, before telling Alec all about how her coursework was going. She’d broken it off with Meliorn, which Alec frowned over him dumping her after missing one date until Izzy explained that _she_ was the one who broke it off, for more reasons than the missed date. Jace was doing well in the guard, though Sebastian was still a nuisance. Apparently, he’d started in on some anti-magic rhetoric after Alec had been taken. Which wasn’t surprising considering who his father was. Valentine Morgenstern practically ran on the ballot with a campaign on anti-magic. Alec told the two of them about the snowball fight, they both hit him when he told them about nearly getting killed by wolves. 

Maryse and Robert were even home more often. They seemed to have taken their youngest’s health scare to heart, and were spending time with all of them now that Max was healing. Family dinners still weren’t the most comfortable affair, because they were still very concerned with their children’s futures and their own reputation, but Alec was content to dodge those questions because it was just nice to be together. 

At least in those first couple days. 

When Alec started talking about leaving was when it suddenly became harder to. And that wasn’t because Alec didn’t want to. He had already been talking to Izzy, Jace, and Max about them coming to visit him, particularly around Christmas. Alec had even sat down his parents and explained that he wanted to go back, that he liked living at the mansion, and invited them to come visit as well. They still seemed wary about that, but Alec thought they understood. Only, suddenly there were a million reasons why he _couldn’t_ leave. 

First it had been Max, who had asked Alec if he could stay for just a day longer because he wanted to go to Hodge’s with him again. He really couldn’t say no, not when Max was looking up at him like that. He also had actually wanted to stop by and see Hodge before he left. 

The second time it had been something completely out of their hands because it snowed the next evening when he was supposed to leave. Alec protested that he could still ride through it, but his family insisted that he stay another night. It was only one more night, and Magnus would probably yell at him for riding through the storm anyway. 

The third time it happened, Alec knew his parents were trying to keep him longer. They insisted that he should probably formally withdrawal from school if he wasn’t going to be coming back, but wouldn’t you know it? The school office had just closed and it wouldn’t be open over the weekend. But at his core Alec was responsible, and at least the suggestion meant that his parents weren’t trying to force him into continuing school. 

The fourth time it happened Alec had very nearly just hightailed it out of there. Because he didn’t care in the least that the Morgensterns were coming to dinner. But his parents insisted that he was an important political figure they needed to impress, and that Hodge would also be coming. So Alec relented, on the condition that he would be going home the next afternoon, definitely. 

The dinner with the Morgensterns was awkward, there was really no other word for it. It made him remember the first time he’d had dinner with Magnus, but while he looked back on that memory with a tinge of fondness now, he doubted he’d ever look at this dinner that way. Though there was a similar vein of restrained anger going around the table. Both Valentine and his son wore a thinly veiled air of righteousness. They had only been a minute in before Alec was gripping his fork hard enough to make his knuckles whiten. 

The regular policy was bad enough, but Valentine Morgenstern was outright prejudiced against any forms of magic. Apparently, it was personal, or at least Valentine said it was. He claimed that his wife and young daughter had been forced into servitude for a warlock, and he’d never been able to get them to leave. At this point Alec didn’t blame them for wanting to stay with the warlock. 

Maybe it was being around Magnus, who always encouraged Alec to speak his mind, or just the pervading sense of _wrong_ that made Alec speak up against one of Valentine’s points on magic. He thought he made it rather concisely too, but Valentine brushed it off like the ramblings of a child. It was Izzy who backed him up, arguing for his point. At that point something angry flashed in Valentine’s eyes, but Robert stepped in before he could say anything else. The rest of the dinner passed in an uneasy tension. 

Alec was just relieved that he could go back to the manor the next day. Max was doing alright, he was working on gaining muscle back in his legs, but was more cheerful than Alec had seen in a while. His siblings had promised to come visit, he’d withdrawn from law school, there was nothing really holding him here anymore. 

More, he missed Magnus. It had been a week without him, and Alec was worried. Logically, he knew that Magnus was a centuries old warlock and had plenty of friends with him, but he wanted to be with him, to see he was alright for himself. He missed talking to him, missed his point of view. No one listened to him like Magnus did either, who had listened to Alec ramble about a book for an hour and never looked like he’d wanted to be anywhere else. Alec missed the way it felt when Magnus’ fingers would slip through his and make him feel warm in a way only one of Izzy’s full body hugs used to. He missed kissing him, which made him feel like he was flying every time. 

There were words that probably encapsulated that, but he didn’t want to say them yet. 

Izzy and Jace sat in his room that night, while Alec was deciding what of his things he wanted to take back to the manor with him. Neither of them helped very much, just sprawled out on Alec’s bed while he packed, occasionally commenting on what he was choosing to throw in his bag. For the most part it was clothes, he hadn’t packed that many on his first journey out there. A few mementos too, like the leather gloves Izzy had bought him for Christmas last year. Little things that he’d been given over the years that had special meaning. It was well past dark when he just collapsed into bed with his siblings and the three of them fell asleep there. 

The next morning went smoothly, Alec was soaking up the last few hours with his family before he headed out. They all had breakfast together before they took Max outside and ran around in the snow, building a cheery snowman in the backyard. Max had to sit out about halfway through, but gleefully called directions from the steps of the porch. Alec suspected most of those directions were just to have them running around in the snow some more, but none of them could deny Max anything. 

It was hedging into late afternoon when they went inside and Alec headed upstairs to grab his bags. All things considered, it was looking to be a much more pleasant send off than last time. This time everyone was in a good mood, even if they were probably still a little wary. But there was the promise that they’d see Alec again, which hadn’t been there last time. 

He’d only just set his bag at the bottom of the stairs when his father stopped him. 

“Alec? Before you go there’s one last thing your mother and I would like you to look over. You mind coming down to our office?” Robert smiled, indicating toward the door that led to his parent’s combined office. 

“Sure, if it won’t take long. I really want to get going before it gets dark” Alec glanced toward the windows. The sun was still shining brightly, but it could start fading soon, and the journey wasn’t a short one. 

“It won’t take long” Robert assured, opening the door and starting down the stairs. 

Jace and Max hadn’t been entirely planned additions to their family. That didn’t mean they were loved any less, but it had meant that the Lightwoods would have to rework some of the space in their home. Jace and Alec had been able to share a bedroom when they were younger, but as they grew up it became clearer that the two of them really should have their own spaces. So Maryse and Robert’s offices on the first floor had been sacrificed in favor of bedrooms. Instead, the two of them moved into the lower basement floor, which didn’t get much light, but had more than enough space. It was also quieter. It hadn’t been that much of a sacrifice considering the two of them hadn’t been home all that often to begin with. 

Alec stepped down into the cozy office downstairs just as his mother was standing from her desk. To his surprise, Hodge was there too, perched on the arm of one of the wingback chairs. It felt strange that he would be here, but Alec wasn’t going to pass up a chance to say goodbye to someone he considered an uncle. 

“What did you need me to look at? Did the school send something over?” Alec moved further into the room, glancing over his shoulder to where his father still stood stoically beside the door.   
“Alec, there’s something we need to talk with you about” Hodge was speaking carefully, standing up fully to face Alec. 

“We’re worried about you” Maryse added, lips in a tight line. 

“What’s there to be worried about. I’m fine” Alec frowned, suddenly this felt like an intervention, a very unwelcome one.

“You’re not fine Alexander. First, there’s this whole obsession over the warlock and now you’re dropping out of school. You’re throwing your whole future away. It’s not right, it’s not you.” Maryse stepped out around her desk bringing her hands up to cup Alec’s face and dropping them when he stepped away. 

“It is me. Can’t you see how much happier I am? I’m finally figuring out who I am” Alec protested, backing away further from his parents and Hodge. 

“We think the warlock has got you under some kind of spell. It would explain your weird behavior and the need to get back there” It was Hodge who spoke next and had Alec’s mouth opening in shock.

They thought Magnus had put a spell on him. 

“He didn’t, Magnus doesn’t even have the power to do that kind of magic right now. But he wouldn’t” Alec shook his head, gripping the arm of the chair that he’d backed up into. 

“He could have just made you believe that, son” Robert sighed from the doorway. Alec realized now that he’d been positioned strategically to keep him from running. 

“It’s the only explanation for how irrational you’ve been. Please Alec, this is for you. We know how to stop this” Maryse pleaded, her hand raising to rest on Alec’s shoulder. 

Alec’s eyes narrowed, “What are you going to do? Was this Valentine’s idea?” 

“He’s right, Alec, the only way to be rid of magic is to completely destroy it. Valentine has a plan. But we need something from you” Hodge spoke evenly, and Alec hardly recognized the man. The serious, stone faced man was hardly anything like the smiling man who ran the bookstore and let Max sit on the counter. He hadn’t known that Hodge had anything against magic. 

“Whatever you need, I’m not helping you. I’m not going to let you do this. Magnus isn’t who you say he is. He wouldn’t hurt anyone.” Alec voice was rising, and he was turning toward the door, but his mother’s hand on his shoulder held him back. 

“You don’t have a choice, we’re doing this for you Alexander” Maryse’s hands were quick and skilled as they slid to the back of Alec’s neck and unclasped the necklace there before he could stop her.

Then the three of them were heading out the door, Alec tried to follow but his father’s firm hands held him back from leaving. Abruptly they shoved him backwards before the door was slammed shut behind them. There was the sound of a key in the lock, and sure enough when Alec tried the door he found it locked. Desperate, he pounded his fists against the door, “No! Stop! You can’t! Don’t do this!”, in hopes that they’d change their minds or one of his siblings might hear him and come let him out before his parents had the chance to get his necklace to Valentine. 

The basement was possibly the most closed off room in the house, the narrow windows near the ceiling of the room wouldn’t be big enough to fit a person. The door was big and heavy, and while Alec tried breaking it down anyway, he was only left with one side of his body aching. He couldn’t even try picking the lock, since it locked from the outside. Alec felt so stupid, he should have known they were up to something when they led him down here. They hardly used their office, it should have been suspicious that they had anything he needed to look at down here. Now he was trapped, while Valentine was putting together people to hurt Magnus. 

Alec’s hand was red, and he was pretty sure he may have cracked a bone pounding on the door. 

It had been about a half hour when he finally heard footsteps on the stairs beyond the door. There was a metallic noise like someone fumbling for the key. Alec had backed up, bracing himself to race past anyone who was determined to keep him in this room, but that fell into relief as the door opened and Izzy, Jace, and to his surprise Clary tumbled into the room. 

“Alec! We didn’t know where you were but we figured they would have to lock you somewhere” Jace’s voice was relieved as he righted himself. 

“Did you know about this?” Alec’s was tense, still debating just running past his siblings, they didn’t have time. 

“No, we had no idea. They sent us out with Max to get ice cream. Mom and dad told us they wanted to send you off with a proper celebration. We only heard about what was going on with Valentine afterwards and didn’t know where you were” Izzy explained, reaching out to pick up Alec’s hand to inspect it. 

“They think I’m under a spell, they took my necklace” Alec pulled his hand away from Izzy, “We have to get going, they have a head start.” 

“That’s why I’m here” Clary brought her hand up to where the charm rested on her chest. 

“Let’s get going” Jace urged, gesturing for them to start their ascent up the stairs. The four of them ran up, and then outside the house where the horses were waiting for them. 

“How did you know to be here?” Alec’s question was directed at Clary as they grabbed everything they needed. 

Alec was grateful that Jace had immediately shoved his bow into his hands, because he would have panicked searching for it. 

“My stepdad, Luke, had been hearing rumors. Both him and my mom keep up to date with what Morgenstern is doing. When they heard about this, they knew it could be bad news” Clary huffed as she hitched her leg over her horse. 

“Why would they be watching out for Valentine specifically?” Alec nodded his head for Clary to lead the way as Jace and Izzy led their horses in behind them. 

“He’s my father” Clary sighed, “It’s hard to explain, but he blames magic and Magnus for me and my mom leaving him and Sebastian.”

Alec wanted to ask more, but they were picking up the pace, and speed was going to be key for getting to Magnus on time. Shouting between the horses while they were going at that speed was just impossible. The four horses raced into the dying light, heading to the woods and following the direction of Clary’s charm. The time to get there seemed to take too long. Or maybe that was just Alec’s worry that stretched every second into a minute. 

The fog closed in around them and Alec fought the feeling like he was suffocating. His mind fought to keep him away from the thought that he might already be too late. That everything he’d come to care about in the past couple of months would have been destroyed. That he’d never be able to tell Magnus what he needed to. Those thoughts were better kept for later. 

Finally, they broke through the fog, and Alec’s heart sunk. There were loud shouting noises coming from the manor, and the sounds of wood and glass breaking. The lower windows all looked to be broken, and the beginnings of a fire starting in one. Alec practically leapt off his horse the minute they made it to the front of the building. 

Valentine had gathered a small crowd, though a fair few of them were stumbling out of the front doors when the four of them ran up. Those leaving were wide eyed and looked to be in pain, some visibly bleeding or clutching various body parts. Alec didn’t see his parents anywhere, but he wondered if they’d come at all, or if they’d just delivered his necklace to Valentine. 

They stepped through the doors just in time to see Maia land a hard punch to Hodge’s cheek. It was a weird sight, but Alec could only find himself relieved, he should have known they would hold their ground here. They had the advantage of knowing the terrain. 

“About time you showed up” Maia called, reaching up to swipe a hand across her brow, frowning when it came away bloody. “A lot of them got past me, Simon and I have been down here, but Raphael and Magnus are upstairs.” 

Alec nodded quickly, and drew his bow. Izzy was already heading over to Maia asking to help clean her up and find Simon. Clary was talking about finding where the fire was and putting it out. Jace met Alec’s eyes and tilted his head up toward the stairs. Wordlessly, they moved up the steps. 

There was a creak above them and both of them watched as someone tumbled over the railing up above. Neither of them recognized the falling man, but Alec recognized Raphael as the one who threw him over. The man was bleeding from a split lip and panting from tussling with the other man. Who at least seemed to be still breathing from the groan coming from the ground floor. 

Another man came at Raphael from behind, and Alec lifted his bow, but Jace was quicker, vaulting up the last few steps until he was on the man. Raphael indicated Alec should continue on as another man appeared and both him and Jace were fighting, keeping them occupied while Alec slipped past. He had to find Magnus. 

Even if he’d only been to Magnus’ room once, it wasn’t something he was going to forget that easily. He glanced at the balcony’s French doors, but there were no signs of movement beyond the glass. The library was in the opposite direction, so the bedroom was really the only option. 

The door was open when Alec approached, and raised voices and the sounds of a scuffle filtered into the hallway. He recognized Magnus and Valentine’s voices, even if he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. It was pretty easy to guess what it was anyway, he’d knew Valentine’s rhetoric. Alec leaned back against the door, knocking an arrow into his bow. Quietly, he leaned back against the door, opening it and raising his bow, ready to incapacitate Valentine. 

But there wasn’t an easy shot. Valentine and Magnus were fighting like two large predators, circling each other. Magnus was using his magic to quickly block and dodge Valentine’s attacks with a knife. The magic was draining him, his movements were getting slower, Valentine might not notice yet, but Alec knew Magnus well enough to see it. Neither of the two of them had seen Alec in the doorway. 

“You really care about him, don’t you?” Valentine was out of breath, but somehow his voice still sounded cruel. Alec felt his heart clench when he realized Valentine was talking about him. “But does he really care about you, warlock? Should I tell you how I found you?” 

Valentine drew back then, and Alec lined up his shot, but he faltered when he saw the charm dangling from his fingers. 

Magnus did too. A look of betrayal and hurt that crossed his face when he set eyes on the swinging green stone. He thought Alec had done this. Thought that what Valentine was implying was true. 

“Magnus- “Alec started to say, to draw Magnus’ attention to him, to deny everything. 

Valentine's tactic had been meant as a distraction.

It pulled Magnus’ attention away from Valentine, to take down his weakening shields for only a moment. In that moment, Valentine’s dagger sunk into Magnus’ side. 

Alec watched him fall, listened to the gasping breath from Magnus’ lips. His bow was raised with little thought and an arrow struck Valentine’s shoulder, burying deep. Alec quickly strung another, piercing the meat of Valentine’s thigh and making sure that he would be in too much pain to even think about hurting either of them. 

“Izzy! We need help!” He shouted, hoping someone would hear him, or relay the message. Because if anyone could help it was his sister. 

Sinking to his knees, Alec’s hands fluttered over Magnus’ body as he tried to figure out what to do. The knife had left a deep gash in his side, probably deep too. The cloth around it was already soaked red, and a puddle was spreading across the floor, soaking into the knees of Alec’s pants. His breathing was labored, and his eyes were squeezed shut in obvious pain. Finally Alec’s brain kicked in and he pressed his hands to the wound, trying to apply pressure and keep Magnus from bleeding out. 

Magnus gasped in pain, and his eyes shot open, those brilliant yellow cat eyes settling on Alec. 

“Alexander” His name was a harsh breath, and one of Magnus’ hands blindly reached out until he was grasping the fabric of Alec’s shirt. 

“I’m here, I came back. You’re going to be fine” Alec said quickly. Glancing behind him in the hope that Isabelle was already there. 

“I missed you” His voice was fainter, his blinking slow. 

Alec smiled a little, leaning closer to get a better angle to apply pressure. “I missed you too. Magnus…I…” He paused, wondering if he should say it, but right now he was more afraid that he wouldn’t get the chance to, he didn’t even care if Magnus didn’t feel the same way, but he had to let him know “I love you.”

A soft smile spread across Magnus’ lips, “I love you too” It was said so softly like a whisper. 

Alec was grinning then, because Magnus loved him. He’d been worried over saying those three words, knowing how much meaning they had here. He had to wait until he knew for sure that he meant them. Everything should be alright now, right? The curse would be broken and Magnus would get his magic back. It felt like relief. 

Until Magnus’ eyes slipped closed, and his chest stopped rising and falling. 

“No, no. Magnus? Stay with me, you’ve got to stay with me. This can’t happen, not when I just got you back. No” Alec was rambling, one of his hands flying to check Magnus’ pulse. 

He felt hands pushing him to the side and suddenly Izzy was there and taking over. Alec could hardly concentrate on what she was doing, he was watching Magnus face, hoping beyond hope that he would just smile at Alec and tell him everything was going to be okay. There was blood on his hands, Magnus blood. He felt numb. 

Izzy kept going as the rest of their group filtered into the room. Valentine must have crawled out at some point, but Alec didn’t really care. Jace and Clary dropped down beside him, both of their arms wrapped around him. Simon and Raphael immediately dropped down next to Izzy to help in any way they could. Maia hovered in the background, keeping watch over them.   
When Izzy turned to him with a grim face, he already knew what she was going to say. 

“I’m sorry Alec” She said, voice choked with emotion. Reaching out to him, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, tugging him in as his breath caught. Behind her he could see Magnus, laid lifeless on the floor, skin far too ashen, not breathing, so he buried his face into Isabelle’s shoulder. 

It wasn’t until Jace sharply whispered “Alec” in his ear that he looked up. 

The room was on fire. 

Or, Alec wasn’t sure if it was exactly fire. Blue flames licked along the floorboards and straight to Magnus’ body. His immediate reaction was to leap to Magnus’ defense, but Jace’s strong arms caught him around the middle. 

The flames consumed Magnus, burning almost to the ceiling. Nearly everyone had to look away because they were so bright. They burned like that for almost a minute, crackling and spitting out sparks before they started dying down. Slowly the flames ebbed until they burned out altogether. Nothing was burned, nothing even singed. 

Magnus’ wound was gone. The bloody tatters of his shirt were still there, but the wound itself was gone in favor of smooth caramel skin. Alec gently freed himself from his sibling’s hands just in time to see Magnus’ eyes shoot open and watch him draw in a gasping breath. One hand flailed outward, reaching. 

“Alexander?” It was raw and harsh sounding, but Alec was there, grasping Magnus’ hand with his own, ignoring that Magnus blood was still caked on it. 

“I’m here” Alec murmured, lifting his shirtsleeve so he could wipe away the wetness on his cheeks. 

Magnus smiled when he saw him, a soft tender smile. His free hand reached up to stroke along Alec’s cheek, catching some of the tears Alec hadn’t gotten. 

“You did it, you freed me” Magnus murmured with what sounded a little like awe. 

Alec shook his head vigorously, “No, you did it” He protested, twisting his head so he could press a kiss in the center of his palm. 

“But you did come to save me” Magnus reached behind himself to push himself, up, closer into Alec’s space. 

“Had to return the favor, didn’t I?” Alec grinned, shuffling to support Magnus as much as he could. 

“Thank you Alexander, for everything. For being here, for coming back.” He leaned into Alec. 

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Though I hope you know that I’m going to hold you to that promise to show me the world” It felt like they should be taking this more seriously. Magnus had just about died in front of him. But he wasn’t dead, and the curse had been lifted, and everyone they knew was safe. The relief from that alone was enough to make Alec smile. 

“Sounds like a perfect adventure. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go” Magnus squeezed his hand. 

“Show me all your favorite places” Alec murmured, ducking his head to brush a kiss to Magnus’ lips. Magnus sighed into it, eyes closing. 

When his eyes opened again, he just watched him for a moment before murmuring “I love you Alexander Lightwood.”

“I love you Magnus Bane” Alec murmured in return. 

Those simple words had the power to end a centuries long curse, and set two men free.


	9. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The end!  
> The epilogue is much shorter than the rest of the chapters but I hope you enjoy it.  
> Thank you all so much for sticking with this story, I love each and every one of you.  
> This is the first time I'd written anything in a while and it turned into a 45k monster before I knew it.

Alec pulled his scarf up so that he could tuck his nose into it as another cool wind whipped past. It had been a Christmas gift from Izzy, who was still steadfastly trying to improve Alec’s wardrobe one accessory at a time. Not that Izzy necessarily disapproved of his fashion sense, but she had called it boring on multiple occasions. It was worse now that she and Magnus had teamed up, though Magnus was usually the gentler push into broadening his fashion horizons. 

Considering he was the one standing out here with all his bags packed and ready to go, Magnus could probably make his fashion decisions a little less broad, at least for this excursion.

Tucking his hands back into his pockets, Alec gazed out at the icy grounds of the manor. Snow still covered every surface, and Alec smiled at the sight of a couple snow people lining the front of the yard. It wasn’t that long ago that he had approached this house with a sense of trepidation. That manor had loomed above him like lofty prison walls. Now he could only look at it with a touch of fondness. He’d met Magnus here and they’d celebrated Christmas here with their friends. 

Maryse and Robert hadn’t joined them, but Alec, Izzy, Jace and Max had spent the morning at the Lightwood house with their parents. They were slowly coming around, or at least Maryse was, their father was still distant. Alex suspected there was something going on between the two of them, but their relationship with him was fragile enough that Alec didn’t want to go poking anymore holes just this moment. 

Warm arms wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him backwards and nearly off balance. Alec twisted until he could see his sister grinning at him. 

“You could have knocked us both over” Alec’s voice was low and scolding, but the smile on his lips betrayed him. 

“But I didn’t” Izzy pointed out, taking a step back to appraise him, “Waiting on Magnus?”

“Yeah. He said he’d take ten minutes” Alec sighed, looking toward the door, where Magnus still hadn’t shown. 

“How long ago did he say that?” Izzy grinned, tucking her hands into her jacket pockets.

“About fifteen minutes ago” He admitted, laughing, “Doesn’t matter, it’s not like time is a huge issue.” 

“You’re so gone on him” Izzy teased, moving to stand next to him and bumping his arm with her shoulder.

“I am” Alec wasn’t even going to bother to deny it. He was in love with Magnus Bane and every day just confirmed that more for him. Every smile, every laugh, every moment shared just made him realize just how in love with him he was. 

“Gross” A teasing voice said from his other shoulder, and Jace’s hand rested on Alec’s shoulder. 

“You’re just jealous” Izzy leaned around Alec to smirk at Jace. 

Jace opened his mouth to retort, but Magnus had finally made his appearance at the ornate front door of the manor. A bag was trailing behind him, but Simon was it his side carrying another. Which meant that he’d definitely overpacked for their journey, but Alec couldn’t even feel irritated about it right now. Max was trailing along beside him, chattering a mile a minute. Alec had left him in the kitchen with Jocelyn, but he should have figured that he’d eventually find Magnus. They’d become fast friends, mainly because Magnus seemed to never get tired of telling stories and answering all of Max’s questions. Especially that he was able to answer questions that none of his siblings would even dream about having the answers to. 

Raphael trailed after Simon, and Alec could swear he saw him put a hand out to keep Simon steady after he almost slipped on the ice for the second time. Maia and Clary followed shortly after, clearly having gotten the news that Magnus was finally out the door and he’d be leaving soon. 

When they got to the gates of the grounds, leading out to where Alec and his siblings were standing, Magnus paused. 

It made Alec’s chest ache a little. Even though Magnus knew he could leave, he had done it before. There was still a certain amount of wariness to him. He’d lived with the curse for so long. Alec knew that he was still afraid to use too much magic, even though it seemed like he never tired from using it now. But he’d still use it as efficiently as possible. It was going to take a while, before Magnus would get used to not having to worry about it. 

Watching Magnus straighten his shoulders and brush off the pause like it was nothing, strolling through those gates with confidence was beautiful and made Alec smile. They’d get there.  
“So nice of you to join us” Alec teased, leaning down so he could give Magnus a kiss. 

“As if you would leave without me” Magnus teased right back, arms slipping around Alec’s waist. 

“I might, if I _could_ actually leave without you. Portal travel isn’t something I can do by myself. So, I guess I just have to wait for my devastatingly handsome warlock boyfriend to finish packing” Alec grins, leaning his forehead against Magnus’. 

“Your devastatingly handsome warlock boyfriend thanks you” Magnus tilts his head so their lips connect again. 

“Are we just going to keep watching until they start making out? Or are we getting this show on the road?” Maia asked, arms wrapped around herself to keep out the chill.

Magnus pulled away with a grin and another quick kiss to Alec’s cheek, “If we must” He sighed, throwing a wink Maia’s way. 

“You’ll have plenty of time to make out with each other later. Not when we’re all freezing out here because someone took ages packing” Jace grumbled, rubbing his hands together. 

“Jocelyn and Luke are good inside?” Alec asked Magnus more quietly, ignoring Jace’s complaint entirely. 

The two of them had graciously agreed to stay at the manor and help watch over it while Alec and Magnus were away. Raphael was still going to be going in and out, and Ragnor promised to stop in to check on the plants every now and then, which Max was overjoyed about, but Jocelyn and Luke would stay there and look after everything. Catarina also said that she would stop by from time to time as she bumped her hip against Magnus’, teasing him about how she thought he’d finally be the one visiting her for once. 

Valentine had disappeared after Alec had left him bleeding from multiple punctures, and had taken his son with him. It made Alec nervous, sure that he was going to pop out of the woodwork at any moment, but the rest of their friends didn’t seem nearly as concerned. Even Clary said that her father being gone was the only reason she felt comfortable enough spending more time in town taking art classes, and she was fairly convinced he wasn’t going to be coming back anytime soon. 

“They’re fine Alexander” Magnus murmured warmly brushing his hand against Alec’s. 

Turning, the two of them took time to embrace all of their friends, say their temporary goodbyes. 

It was amazing to think about that too, that suddenly they were _their_ friends. Actually, it had been a little stunning how fast that had happened. Jace and Clary had already begun seeing each other, and Alec still wasn’t entirely sure if that was romantic or not. But Clary and Izzy had also hit it off, Izzy had been the one to suggest she try university. Izzy and Simon worked well together, and Izzy and Raphael got along surprisingly well. Maia and Jace had sort of a love/hate relationship. Everyone loved Max, that had been inevitable. 

Seeing them all standing there together after he and Magnus pulled away made him smile. 

Some people talked about traveling like you were running away from your life. Admittedly, traveling used to be something that Alec thought about like an escape. But standing here in front of his friends and family, he knew he wasn’t running away from anything, not anymore. He was already looking forward to the moment that he could come back and share stories with his friends. To celebrate all the moments with them. 

Max broke free of the others and wrapped his arms around Alec’s waist. 

“You’re going to come home and tell me everything right? About meeting Ragnor and all the magical stuff?” Max questioned into Alec’s torso, making it very hard to understand him. His obsession with the Fell Chronicles hadn’t lessened any. His favorite Christmas gift had been a letter from the man himself courtesy of one Magnus Bane. 

“Yes, Max, I promise.” Alec laughed, ruffling his little brother’s hair. He was doing so much better now. The potion had cleared up most of the issues, and the rest had just been up to Max to gain his strength back. He hardly looked like the little boy that Alec had to carry around because he could barely walk. Though that wasn’t to say that he didn’t still make Alec carry him around. 

Very gently Alec pried Max’s arms off him, kneeling down so he could give him a more proper hug before ushering him off to stand with Izzy and Jace. Alec turned back toward Magnus, watching as he started the process. 

Magnus’ hands lit up with warm light centered on his fingertips as he drew intricate patterns in the air. A circular pool of magic formed in the air, just like the one Alec remembered from the night he’d thought he was going to die. This time at least, there were far less dire circumstances.

Stepping back, Magnus slipped his hand into Alec’s, the other clutching hold of his luggage. Izzy stepped forward to hand Alec his own bag, far smaller than the ones Magnus was bringing.  
“Well, where do you want to go Alexander?” Magnus asked. 

“Let’s start with somewhere warm” Alec suggested, squeezing Magnus’ hand. 

“Somewhere warm it is. Ready to see the world?” Magnus smiled, leaning over to kiss Alec again. 

“I’m ready to see the world with you” Alec whispered against his lips. 

The two of them turned to get one last look at their friends before they turned back to the glowing portal and stepped through it. Off on a new adventure.

**Author's Note:**

> So it has been ages since I last tried my hand at fic writing. I honestly hadn't planned on writing this either, but the idea of Magnus and Alec in a Beauty and the Beast scenario stuck with me. I hope it's not too bad! Feel free to poke me with ideas or comments, tell me what you like or didn't like. This whole thing is probably going to go without a beta unfortunately. You can find me on tumblr [here](http://lilyhearted.tumblr.com).


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